


Natural

by bitsori, dakgalbis



Series: The Little Things [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, Crushes, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Graduation, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Slow Burn, Veterinary Clinic, random cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-14 12:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakgalbis/pseuds/dakgalbis
Summary: It takes all of Minho to raise his head and turn away instead of locking his gaze on Jisung's lips. “Ask me yes-no questions about this person I like and make a guess from there.”“So there is someone!” Jisung exclaims, pulling away from Minho.Minho rolls his eyes. “Why did you keep asking who it is if you weren't even sure there was someone?”“Well, if I ask who it is right away, I get two questions answered at once,” Jisung answers, looking proud of himself.Minho chuckles, realizing Jisung does have a point. He gives the other a cheeky smile. “Fine. Ask away, then.”or: Minho wonders if Jisung really has no idea, and considers that maybe it's time to move on.





	Natural

**Author's Note:**

> \- this is the minsung spin-off to [little brave](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16438346)! it picks up right off of the end of the first chapter, and goes on until past the end of the second chapter, with flashbacks to their previous years in vet med school. this spin-off could probably stand on its own, though.
> 
> \- this fic would never have seen the light of day without [bitsori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori) so thank you friend hehe
> 
> \- there's a part here where jisung and minho talk about adding ketchup to remedy donkatsu sauce gone bad. please don't, don't, DON'T try this at home...
> 
> Disclaimers:  
\- i have no medical background whatsoever, so descriptions of illnesses, treatments and procedures are very likely to be inaccurate and are only based on personal experience and a bit of google.
> 
> \- there are some references to places outside seoul that might not be entirely correct. a lot of googling was done to be as accurate with these as possible, but we can't be too sure.

“Hyung, you like someone?!” Jisung turns sharply to Minho, then to Woojin, then back to Minho, looking at him in complete shock, as if Minho has just admitted to murdering his own kin.

They’re in the teaching hospital’s cafeteria, discussing over lunch a conversation Seungmin is having over KakaoTalk with a guy he seems to like. Minho has just dispensed advice to simply go ahead and say what he wants instead of using the guy’s dog’s next vaccination date as an excuse to text. Woojin however, had countered him with a remark implying that Minho himself couldn't even be direct with the person he himself likes, and therefore has no authority whatsoever to be giving Seungmin such advice. It isn't a secret he likes Jisung, at least not to their common friends. He doesn't even try to hide it and he’s always been openly fond of the younger one, but for some reason, this fact continuously flies over Jisung's head. 

Whatever hell Minho has in mind to give to Woojin, however, evaporates quickly at the sight of Jisung looking at him in complete shock. The younger one’s eyes are wide open, and his mouth is slightly ajar. Minho can’t be sure if he’s only imagining it, but a hurt look seems to flash briefly across the younger one’s face.

Did Jisung really have no idea? Minho feels his heart sink to the bottom of his gut. He’s sure he’d been obvious enough with both Seungmin and Woojin catching on without him directly admitting it to them even once.

Minho could only return with a look that’s halfway through a smile and a wince. For once, he’s out of something funny to say, maybe a small joke that could distract Jisung or a witty comeback that would pass off what Woojin said as nonsense. He’s good at those things, and Jisung is the easiest person to distract of all the people he’d met in his entire life so far. That’s just one of the million things Minho found endearing about him.

Seungmin looks up from his phone, frowning at all of them. It seems all his attention has been on his phone, thankfully, and only just now noticing that everyone has gone quiet. “What?”

“Seungminnie, did you know Minho-hyung liked someone?” Jisung turns to Seungmin, tugging at the sleeve of his shift partner’s scrub.

Seungmin’s eyes first turn to Minho, to which Minho responds with a barely perceptible shake of his head. Seungmin seems to understand this, and only returns his gaze to his phone, shrugging without saying anything.

Jisung, seemingly confused by the wordless response, turns next to Woojin, the one to blame for this mess. “Woojinnie-hyung?” 

Minho sees Woojin open his mouth and quickly decides that he needs to speak up before Woojin could say anything more. He quickly puts on his usual mischievous smile, though he can only hope it reaches his eyes.

“Didn’t you know, Jisungie? I’ve always liked someone. I like you.” He pauses, realizing how easy that is to say, and then takes a deep breath. 

Jisung looks at him in surprise, pointing at himself and laughing. “Me?! Yah, hyung!”

“And Seungmin, Woojin, Dr. Jang, Dr. Ok, Dr. Hwang, my mom, dad, and of course, my cats!” Minho continues, but Jisung is already laughing, his eyes crinkling up and his voice echoing across the cafeteria. 

How Jisung takes that as just another one of his jokes doesn’t come as much of a surprise, and it’s a relief that things went exactly as he expected they would, but Minho can’t say he isn’t the least bit disappointed. Minho likes seeing Jisung laugh, though, and loves being the reason for it, so for now, everything is okay.

“No, really, hyung?” Jisung is practically bouncing in his seat as he nags Minho to tell the truth. “Is there someone you like?”

Beside Minho, Woojin sighs and rolls his eyes. Minho promptly ignores him and only gives Jisung a teasing grin. “I already told you, right? I like you. And Seungmin. And Woojin- do you need me to go through the entire list again? Pay attention this time around, okay?”

“Eeeeh, hyung—” 

Woojin reaches across the table and gave Jisung a pat on the shoulder. “Minho didn’t lie, Jisung,” he says, giving the younger one a crooked smile. For a moment, Minho wonders if whether with Woojin’s words, Jisung would finally get it. But Jisung just sits there, frowning at Woojin for what seems like forever.

“You guys are ganging up on me again!” Jisung whines, though there’s easily a trace of laughter found in his voice still.

Beside him, Seungmin puts his phone down on the table, and opens his mouth to say something. Minho gives him a pointed look, trying to signal to him to not say anything further. All of a sudden, however, Woojin grabs Seungmin’s phone off of the table, and looks at the screen.

“Finally!” Woojin exclaims, his voice ringing across the entire cafeteria that the place quiets down and everyone looks at them in their table. In front of him, Seungmin’s face turns a bright shade of pink.

“Give me that!” Seungmin, flustered, grabs his phone from Woojin and looks at the screen. He gives the older intern a glare and starts texting again. To the rest of the people in the cafeteria, this scene doesn’t seem like something worth spending another minute of their precious lunch break on, and one by one, they resume whatever it is they have been doing.

“Finally, what?” Jisung inches towards Seungmin and tries to look at his screen. Seungmin pulls his phone away and raises it above his head, away from Jisung’s prying eyes.

“Mind your own business!” hisses Seungmin. Minho watches his two junior friends bicker, with relief settling into the bottom of his stomach. With graduation nearing, perhaps, there wouldn’t be another chance for them to talk about Minho liking someone again.

And perhaps, that’s for the best.

— ‹‹ —

Minho and Woojin grew close from sharing a lot of classes, as they did with other freshmen enrolled in Konkuk University’s veterinary medicine program. Minho had just happened to sit beside Woojin on the first day of pre-calculus class. They had been waiting for the professor to arrive, when five minutes after Minho had slid into the seat beside Woojin’s, a teaching assistant appeared and told them the professor wasn’t going to make it to class that day. Instead, they had been given a list of things they needed to have with them on their next lecture: an ID picture, a scientific calculator, pencils and erasers, among other things.

Minho had been busy playing with the string of his hoodie, and didn’t realize there was something he needed to list down until the teaching assistant was walking out of the classroom and everyone had their faces buried in their notebooks. He tapped the shoulder of the person nearest to him - Woojin - and asked him what had happened. 

After Minho managed to list down what was needed, he filed out of the classroom just as everyone else did. It was his first class on his first day of university, and with pre-calculus class canceled, he had two hours free until his next one. Without an idea on what to do, he followed Woojin and caught up with him.

“What’s your next class?” Minho asked casually.

Woojin looked at him, frowning at Minho as if he could be operating a scam. “Biology,” was all he answered.

“Oh, same. At the science building?” 

“Yeah. Room TBA?”

Minho nodded and gave a small grin. “Do you wanna go find it?”

Fast forward to a year, Minho and Woojin grew close. They shared a lot more classes than biology and pre-calculus with the other freshmen in their degree program, but Minho found himself sticking to Woojin more than anyone else. Woojin didn’t seem to mind, for he stuck with Minho just the same. Truthfully, Minho wasn’t sure exactly why. Woojin found his sense of humor weird just as everyone else did, but only Woojin didn’t give up on having a normal conversation with him. Occasionally, Woojin would even laugh, and that was already a hundred times preferable to their other classmates who would pretend to laugh in hopes of getting a chance to flirt with him or just wave him off as a weirdo. 

During sophomore year, though, Minho met someone who would laugh at every joke he made.

It was the first day of sophomore year. Minho and Woojin had been hanging out at the science building’s hallway while waiting for their class to start. A couple of students, a tall one with glasses and a pissed off look on his face, and a shorter one with round cheeks and sharp-looking eyes, approached them slowly. Woojin nudged Minho upon seeing them, but before Minho could even say anything, the shorter one had come up to them. There was a sheepish grin on his face. The taller one remained a few steps behind, rolling his eyes so hard Minho worried that they’d fall out of his head.

“Excuse me, we’re freshmen here and it’s our first day. Can we ask for your help to find a certain room here in the science building?”

Minho exchanged a look with Woojin and grinned at the freshman. “Sure, thing, What room are you looking for?”

“We’re looking for room— what is it again—” The freshman fished his registration sheet out of the messenger bag he carried on his right and squinted at it for a while. “TBA! We’re looking for Room TBA! We’re not sure what floor it’s on...”

“TBA means _ To be Announced _, I already told you,” the taller one called out from behind, sounding exasperated. 

The shorter one turned around. “How are you so sure when you’re just a freshman yourself?” he hissed.

“Well, what else could it mean?”

Minho and Woojin exchanged looks once again. 

“Actually, TBA is on the fifth floor.” Minho said, giving the two freshmen the most genuine smile he could give them. It wasn’t so difficult when he was so close to laughing out loud already anyway.

Woojin slowly turned to the shorter freshman. “Yeah, at the end of this building’s west wing.”

The shorter one’s face lit up, in a way and to an extent Minho had never seen on anyone else before. The way his face lit up reminded Minho of how the world would light up in the morning when he opened his eyes. He thought the comparison was a little strange, and maybe it was just his brain’s way of reminding him to ask his landlady if he could get darker curtains. 

“See, Seungmin? I told you it’s an actual room!” The taller one, apparently named Seungmin, looked flabbergasted at the answer. Minho was pretty sure the taller guy was buying it already, but was only shocked that the shorter one was apparently right.

Minho handed back the shorter one’s registration sheet. “You guys better hurry, I heard the elevator broke down a couple of hours ago.” He then saw the taller one mouth something from behind. His face was expressionless but from the way he stamped his foot while eyeing his shorter companion, it was easy to tell he was very annoyed. He looked at Woojin, who had turned away in an attempt to keep himself from laughing. The shorter one, meanwhile, was still looking at Minho, fascinated, like he had just foretold a bright future.

“I’m Han Jisung, by the way sunbaenim, and this prickly friend is Kim Seungmin,” he said, bowing as he stuffed his registration sheet back into his bag. “Today is our first day here.” 

“We’re not friends,” Seungmin muttered loudly enough for Minho, and probably Woojin, to hear.

“Oh, I didn’t notice,” Minho remarked, smirking.

Woojin elbowed him, but contrary to what Woojin seemed to worry about, Han Jisung laughed out loud. “Oh wait, I said it earlier already, didn’t I? Anyway, you guys are…?” 

“Kim Woojin, we’re vet med sophomores,” Woojin introduced himself with a tight smile, still obviously trying not to laugh. “You guys knew each other from high school?”

Minho gave him a small nod of the head and a quick wink. “Lee Minho.”

Han Jisung’s face lit up again, in exactly the same as the way it did just a few moments ago. Minho had to wonder how Woojin revealing that they were vet med sophomores could warrant that much fascination.

“We’re vet med students, too!” Han Jisung exclaimed, obviously excited. “We only met today, actually. I followed Seungmin out of pre-calculus because he looked like he knew his way around - I thought he was a senior - but turns out he’s just as clueless. I mean, where the hell did he get _ To Be Announced _ from? Why wouldn’t the classrooms be determined yet when it’s the first day of classes already?” Han Jisung let out another laugh, then motioned for his companion to come over. “Seungmin-ah, come here! They’re our seniors, show some respect!”

Minho exchanged looks with Woojin. Minho was smirking, while Woojin looked like Minho had just about murdered someone. He didn’t understand what Woojin was so scared about. Looking for Room TBA was a rite of passage for freshmen. They, as sophomores now, were only performing their duty of officiating it for these two. Woojin had gone through it, too, though it was Minho who had tricked him into looking for it.

The taller one came up to them and gave a small bow, though Minho caught the glare he shot Minho and Woojin as he bent down. “I’m Kim Seungmin.” It seemed Kim Seungmin already hated them with every fiber of his being.

“Cool, cool. Anyway, like I said just a while ago, the elevator’s broken so you better rush to Room TBA if you don’t want to be late,” Minho said, putting on a sweet smile.

“But there is—”

Whatever it was Kim Seungmin meant to say, Han Jisung interrupted him from saying it. “Thank you, sunbaenim!” he practically shouted in the hallway, then gave a deep, formal bow. Seungmin glared at Jisung, then gave the two seniors a nod of the head.

“Join us for lunch,” Minho invited, while he wondered if these two would show up after they find out Room TBA wasn’t actually on the fifth floor. Or anywhere for that matter. His intention, though, was to make them seem even more genuine about their intention to help the two freshmen find Room TBA, not really to have lunch with them. “The cafeteria at the basement of this building has the best variety of deopbap on campus.”

Jisung’s face lit up again, and Minho once again remembered his curtains. “Okay, sunbaenim! We’ll be there! Right, Seungminnie?”

Seungmin only scoffed, much to Jisung's dismay. 

“Yah, why are you so rude?”

“Because Room TBA is not on the fifth floor,” Seungmin answered, with an edge to his voice sharp enough to neatly cut through bones. “We have to go to the biology department's office to ask where our room is. That’s why we went here to the science building in the first place.”

Minho wanted to say something to further support their claim regarding Room TBA, but he knew laughter would pour out the moment he opened his mouth. He threw a glance at Woojin, who had taken out his phone and had his eyes glued to the screen.

“It's gonna be a waste of time, we already asked our seniors here!” Jisung retorted, his voice turning sharp as well. Seungmin only continued to glare at him, obviously remaining unconvinced.

Jisung took a deep breath. “Okay, then, if I'm wrong, I'm paying for lunch.”

The look on Seungmin's face changed. His features relaxed and he raised an eyebrow at Jisung. “No. You're paying for all four of us if you're wrong.”

“Okay!” Jisung answered, defiant as he looked up at his taller classmate. “I'll pay for all four of us. And if you're wrong, you're the one who’s paying!”

Seungmin smirked and adjusted the strap of his backpack. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Woojin looked up from his phone and raised an eyebrow. Minho looked down, it was getting more and more difficult to not burst out laughing. Out of nowhere, they were getting lunch for free if these kids were serious enough. From how they glared at each other, though, Minho thought they surely were.

— ›› —

“So you’ve set a date with Hyunjin?” Jisung asks Seungmin, trying to get a glimpse of his shift partner’s phone screen. 

All four of them are walking to the nearby Lotteria to have dinner after their shift. Finals week is coming, and even though they were done with their thesis defense, which is the biggest and most important hurdle Minho and Woojin have to go through as seniors, that didn’t mean the semester is over for them. The two of them walk in step with each other behind Seungmin and Jisung, who are arguing as usual.

Seungmin pulls his phone away and raises it above his head, to a height Jisung’s eyes will surely be unable to reach. “It’s none of your business,” Seungmin hisses, glaring.

“I thought you’d be less cranky now that you seem to have sorted things out with Hyunjin,,” Jisung huffs and turns his gaze straight ahead. “Can you imagine the hell I had to go through for the past couple of weeks?” He puts on a silly grin, one that makes Minho chuckle to himself as soon as he sees it, and then he gives Seungmin a nudge. “Anyway, are you guys dating now?”

Minho notices Seungmin’s face turn an entire shade of pink as he gives Jisung an icy glare.

Jisung bursts out laughing at Seungmin’s reaction, and so do Woojin and Minho behind him. Seungmin getting so easily pissed off will never be not amusing, at the very least.

“Geez, I just asked a yes-no question, what are you getting so angry about?” Minho can tell Jisung is trying to sound and look hurt, but the corners of the younger one’s lips are curling upwards, and the glint in his eyes are screaming mischief.

Woojin laughs out loud beside Minho and reaches out to tap Jisung’s shoulder. “Don’t you think he was much crankier when we first met him, though?” he points out with a fond smile on his face. Minho can tell that Woojin is getting more and more nostalgic with graduation fast approaching, and truthfully, the feeling is infectious. Minho doesn't really like feeling sentimental, but it's pretty difficult not to feel anything these past few days.

“To be fair, he’s gotten much nicer,” Minho chimes in, chuckling at the memory of Seungmin being cranky to them practically throughout the first year they spent together as friends. “He stayed mad for a year because he climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor looking for Room TBA.”

The jibe is enough to prompt Seungmin to look up from his phone. “Excuse me, I did not believe for a single minute that Room TBA was on the fifth floor. That would be Jisung.” 

“But you did believe the elevator broke down and climbed up to the fifth floor, right?” Minho fires right back, poking the small of Seungmin’s back with his index finger. 

Woojin snickers before adding to the conversation. “And believed climbing up to the fifth floor was a better idea than checking with the Biology department first. It was already on the ground floor.”

Seungmin remains quiet for a second, then all of a sudden, he quickens his pace and distances himself ahead of the others by a few steps. All three of them laugh, knowing that could only mean they got under his skin again, and that he’s going to come around once they start teasing someone else within the group. 

“I don’t know why you’re still so pissed about that,” Jisung calls out after him in between snickers. “We wouldn’t have become friends with Minho-hyung if we didn’t have lunch together that day.”

Minho finds himself slowing down his steps upon hearing Jisung specifically mention him, when Woojin is there as well. Indeed, Jisung gets along better than him than with Woojin, but Minho doesn't think that there’s a huge enough difference for Jisung to single him out. That is, unless, Jisung thinks otherwise, and he deliberately let slip that he regards Minho in a different way. A small part of Minho hopes that it's more akin to the way _ he _ regarded Jisung, but if that were the case, Minho imagines Jisung wouldn’t remain to appear so clueless. 

“And what about me?!” Woojin demands, sounding playfully upset. He walks a few steps ahead to catch up with Seungmin, who has noticeably slowed down. “Bye, Jisung, thanks for the five years of what I thought was friendship.”

“Hey, hey! Woojin-hyung, I meant you, too!!” Jisung calls out and tries to catch up after them. He sounds genuinely apologetic for only mentioning Minho. “You know I love you, too!”

Minho remains quiet and only chuckles to himself, feeling silly about how he actually _ hoped _ for something just a few moments ago. He stays a few steps behind his three friends, his mood having dropped a notch or two.

“You don't sound sincere enough,” Woojin replies, narrowing his eyes at Jisung. “Seungminnie, you know what would make an offer sound sincere?”

Seungmin turns to Woojin, then to Jisung, with his eyes crinkled and his lips forming a toothy grin. “Nothing other than an offer to pay for dinner.”

“Yah! I'm not paying for anyone's dinner except for mine!” Jisung retorts, then took a few steps back to grab Minho by the wrist, while the other two laugh out loud. “Hyung, help, these two are ganging up on me!”

Minho only laughs and ruffles the hair on top of Jisung's head. “Oh, you want me to join them?” he asks, unable to help himself but smile fondly.

“Hyung!” Jisung scowls but walks in step with Minho anyway, leaving very little distance between them. Minho steals a glance at Jisung and sees the younger one only looking straight ahead with a faint trace of a smile on his face. He doesn't seem conscious about the lack of distance between them at all, at least not as much as Minho is feeling.

Knowing Jisung wouldn't mind, Minho drapes his arm around the younger one's shoulders. Jisung inches closer, seemingly without the slightest bit of hesitation. Oftentimes, Minho wonders what went on in Jisung's mind whenever he does that, but Jisung never says anything, and he’s the kind of person who'd say out loud anything he thinks of. Minho isn't sure what to feel about Jisung's apparent nonchalance towards his small gestures of affection. He’s altogether glad Jisung doesn't seem to mind, but he wishes he could know if those gestures had any sort of effect on the younger one. 

“Hyung,” Jisung speaks in a rare, quiet manner, taking Minho out of his thoughts. “You're quiet.”

Minho looks at Jisung, a little taken aback that he was being quiet enough for Jisung to notice and point it out. “Am I?” A few steps ahead, Seungmin and Woojin walk while glancing at Seungmin's phone screen.

“Yeah!” Jisung nods and turns to Minho with a curious look on his face. “What are you thinking about?”

“Hm, why should I tell you?” Minho asks, a teasing grin forming on his face.

“Because I always tell you what I'm thinking about!” Jisung grins.

_ Do you, really? _ is what Minho wants to ask. Instead, he ruffles Jisung's hair again. “No one asks you to! You always kindly tell us what’s going on in your head like it’s a public service announcement.” 

Jisung huffs and briefly frowns at Minho. “Fair enough.” The edges of his lips curl up into a grin. “Are you thinking about the person you like?”

Minho laughs softly and turns his gaze towards where they were going. “You're still on that?” He’s genuinely surprised Jisung hasn't forgotten about it yet.

“Because you haven't told me who it is yet!” 

Minho scoffs and wrinkles his nose at the younger one. “I already did! You weren't listening again, were you?”

“You were messing around earlier!” Jisung retorts.

“How are you so sure?” Minho wiggles his eyebrows at the younger one.

“Because-” Jisung pauses, which makes Minho hold his breath. 

“Because— duh! It won't be you if you answered directly right away,” Jisung laughs.

Minho smiles thinly then turns away, hoping Jisung didn't actually catch that. “Then why do you want to know so badly?”

“Because it's about you, hyung! I wanna know about it!” Jisung answers in a matter-of-factly manner.

Minho feels his heart skip a beat, but he continues to speak in a teasing tone. “You sound like a possessive boyfriend.”

Jisung rolls his eyes. “Don't friends want to know who their friends like?”

Something inside Minho sinks to the bottom of his stomach. He looks down on his feet as he continues to walk. “Fair enough.”

“So are you gonna tell me?” Jisung asks in a hushed tone, bringing his face close to Minho's, so close that Minho could feel Jisung's warm breath against his cheek and the faint trace of cologne Jisung usually sprays over himself after every shift. “I'm not telling Woojin-hyung and Seungmin, I promise.”

It takes all of Minho to raise his head and turn away instead of locking his gaze on Jisung's lips. “Ask me yes-no questions about this person I like and make a guess from there.”

“So there is someone!” Jisung exclaims, pulling away from Minho.

Minho rolls his eyes. “Why did you keep asking who it is if you weren't even sure there was someone?”

“Well, if I ask who it is right away, I get two questions answered at once,” Jisung answers, looking proud of himself.

Minho chuckles, realizing Jisung does have a point. He gives the other a cheeky smile. “Fine. Ask away, then.”

“Do you promise to be honest?” Jisung looks at Minho as if the older one is highly suspect of murder.

Minho nods and ruffles Jisung's hair again. “Of course.”

Jisung returns Minho's nod with a determined one. “Do I know this person?”

Minho nods once more, trying not to laugh.

“Huh?” Jisung looks up, brows furrowed and lips upturned. “It's Changbin-hyung, isn't it?”

Minho can't help but laugh out loud; he has to wonder if Jisung is joking. “Are you kidding me?”

“You seemed obsessed with him and that rodent business! Right from the moment you met him!” Jisung answers, frowning.

“What's that face, Han Jisung?” Minho laughs, despite resisting the urge to pinch Jisung's cheeks. “Are you jealous?”

Jisung's frown deepens. He turns quiet for a moment before responding with a fierce rebuttal. “Of course not!”

Minho chuckles, while wondering at the back of his mind what was the pause before Jisung's rebuttal for. “Why are you so angry now?” 

“Wait, am I?” Jisung frowns yet again and looks at Minho as if he’s the one being suspected of murder, this time. 

Minho shakes his head and chuckles some more. “Okay, you were being loud, but then that's your default mode,” Minho teases.

It’s Jisung's turn to roll his eyes. “So it's not Changbin-hyung?”

Minho shakes his head. “No, it's not the rat.”

“Is it someone from the vet med department, then?”

Minho puts on a poker face and nods without a word. He wonders if Jisung would manage to guess it this way.

Jisung's eyes widen briefly, before he frowns in thought again. Minho wants to laugh upon seeing how far from obvious it'd been to Jisung all this time. A part of him, however, wants to place his hands on Jisung's shoulders and shake the younger one into thinking harder and put two and two together.

“Are they still in Konkuk?” Jisung asks next. “I mean, they haven't graduated yet?”

Minho nods again. “They're still in Konkuk.”

“Oh, so it's not that senior who played the piano?” Jisung asks, looking surprised again.

“No, I didn't really like him that much, honestly,” Minho smiles at Jisung, and remembers the shy, but kind senior he briefly had a fling with several months ago, at the end of the last academic year. Minho has almost forgotten that Jisung knew of the handful of brief flings and non-committal relationships he’s had over the past few years. Truthfully, these were Minho's attempts to distract himself from Jisung and his apparent cluelessness, but despite all of them, he always finds himself still thinking of Jisung the most. Minho often ended these relationships himself upon realizing how futile any further attempt with any of them would be. In retrospect, Jisung's cluelessness was also partly Minho's doing. His flings had done so well in throwing off whatever little awareness Jisung could have had.

“Oh! I thought it could be him, because I remember that was the first time that you asked someone out, instead of the other way around.” Jisung shrugs, and then he continues to ask, in a careful tone this time, “Then is it someone from your year?” 

Minho shakes his head.

Jisung only nods. “Is it someone from my year, then?”

Minho slowly nods his head this time, starting to feel a little nervous. Jisung is getting quite close, and he’s highly tempted to start giving false answers. 

“Huh.” Jisung starts to slowly count with his fingers while mumbling to himself He then looks up at Minho, hesitantly dishing out his next question. “But there’s so many of us in our year.”

“I mean, you are asking questions so you can narrow it down, right?” It’s difficult for Minho to not sound exasperated.

Jisung narrows his eyes. Minho feels his heart beating faster. If Jisung actually thought hard enough, he could only be a few questions away from the proper answer.

“Is it someone who’s on the same shift as you at the hospital?” Jisung asks. 

Minho gives a quiet nod. There were three other pairs of interns in the same year as Seungmin and Jisung whom Minho helped manage on his shifts at the triage desk. If Jisung speaks fast enough, he could easily run each of those six names by Minho and get the answer he was looking for.

A frown seems to flash yet again on Jisung’s face, so briefly, though, that if Minho isn’t sure if he saw it. There doesn't seem to be a way to tell, though, because Jisung’s face lights up a split-second afterwards. “Ah, finally, we’re here!” he announces, rushing towards the fast food branch’s glass doors.

— ‹‹ —

Minho hadn’t expected Jisung and Seungmin to come up to his and Woojin’s table at the cafeteria. He pretty much assumed he won’t see the two freshmen for a long time, and the Room TBA prank won’t be remembered again until after a few years at least. The two of them had just found an empty table and were settling into their seats. Minho was busy texting as he was sitting down when Woojin nudged his arm from across the table.

“Good job,” was all Woojin said and tilted his head in the direction of where Jisung and Seungmin were approaching them from. The look on his face was hard to decipher, but Minho could tell that Woojin wasn’t pleased.

Minho looked up from his phone screen and saw what Woojin meant, then gave his friend a crooked grin. “You did well, too,” he reminded Woojin that he wasn’t alone in that prank. “It’s just a couple of freshmen, what are you so afraid of?”

Before Minho knew it, though, the two freshmen were at their table, giving him and Woojin dirty looks. Minho noticed they looked a bit less presentable than they did earlier. The collar of Seungmin’s crisply ironed shirt had become lopsided while Jisung was visibly sweating. He guessed they indeed climbed up to the fifth floor and was unable to suppress a giggle. Woojin, meanwhile, only smiled awkwardly at the two.

“H-hey!” Woojin greeted, raising a hand to give the two a small wave.

“How was biology?” Minho asked, unable to keep himself from grinning too widely.

It was Seungmin who first answered, his voice with an edge Minho could swear was meant to cut steel into pieces. “It would have been great if we weren’t fifteen minutes late.”

Jisung, on the other hand, cut through the sarcasm. “Why did you trick us?! Room TBA wasn’t on the fifth floor!”

“I already told you so!” Seungmin argued, seemingly forgetting that the question was addressed to the two sophomores. Woojin and Minho only exchanged looks, both amused.

“Then why did we still climb up to the fifth floor?!” Jisung argued. Minho could swear if they didn’t know what they were arguing about, he’d think it was about a trillion-won inheritance with how intensely they were glaring at each other.

“Because _ you _ insisted despite the _ obvious _ lie these two put up!” Seungmin rolled his eyes.

Jisung frowned, then fired back with his voice raised. “Are you saying it’s my fault?!” A few of the people seated in the neighboring tables turned their heads towards them. 

“Well, duh. Who said ‘Oh, what do you know? You’re only a freshman, yourself aren’t you’?” From across the table, Woojin looked surprised, and Minho guessed it was because the taller one didn’t look like someone who could be loud.

Minho could no longer help but butt in. He took a deep breath to suppress the loud laughter brewing at the back of his throat. He was pretty sure these two came to the cafeteria to confront him and Woojin but things were turning out differently and to him that was hilarious. “And yet you joined him despite supposedly knowing better,” he pointed out, raising his eyebrows at Seungmin.

All of a sudden, Seungmin’s lips formed a straight line, and seemed to be unable to say anything to that.

“Ha!” Jisung bellowed, beckoning a few more heads to turn towards them. “Admit it, you’re just as dumb as I am!” On his face was a proud, lazy grin, as if having someone as dumb as him was an achievement to be had. It took all of Minho not to give him a pat on the back with how proud he looked of himself.

This seemed to rile Seungmin up. “Excuse me? How dare you? At least I was not dumb enough to promise to buy lunch for three people if I was wrong,” he pointed out through gritted teeth.

Jisung frowned at Seungmin, the proud grin he had gone in an instant. “Wait, who promised free lunch?”

Woojin let out a snort. “You, actually.”

Jisung’s eyes widened as he pointed to himself in apparent panic. “Me?! I said that?!” He turned to Seungmin, who only raised his eyebrows, almost threateningly. He next shifted his gaze to Minho for a confirmation.

Jisung looked like he had no idea at all that he had made such a promise, at least genuinely so from what Minho could tell. He was tempted to say that he didn’t hear Jisung say those things, and admitted to himself that he felt a little bad mooching off a freshman, especially one as seemingly clueless and helpless as Jisung. 

Truthfully, rather than someone to play pranks on, Jisung was someone that Minho thought he’d like to take care of. Still, though, free lunch was free lunch, and despite everything, Jisung had brought this upon himself, so Minho slowly nodded his head to confirm what Woojin and Seungmin just said.

“You guys are making this up! You’re all ganging up against me!” Jisung protested loudly.

Seungmin rolled his eyes again. “I haven’t known them any longer than I’ve known you. Aren’t _ you _ the one pretending to have forgotten?”

“Now, why would I be dumb enough to offer to buy lunch for three people I just met?!” The frown on Jisung’s face deepened.

“Well, why would you be dumb enough to believe them Room TBA—”

Woojin raised a hand before Seungmin could finish his sentence, which prompted Minho to raise an eyebrow at him. “Okay, how about we drop this deal and just have a meal altogether?”

Seungmin looked at Woojin as if he had just suggested to sacrifice his future firstborn. “Excuse me? No, a deal is a deal and this guy has to do what he said he’ll do.”

“Chill, did you forget your wallet at home that you’re so hellbent on getting free lunch?” Minho couldn’t help but interject into the conversation, while still trying not to laugh.

“You’re not getting anything from me!” Jisung practically barked at Seungmin, looking like he was just about ready to attack.

Woojin raised his hand again. “How about Minho and I pay for lunch then? Just to shut the both of you up?” Immediately afterwards, Woojin shot Minho a look that told him he wasn’t allowed to disagree. All Minho could do then was to smile at the two freshmen some more, while mentally calculating by how much he’d have to reduce his daily lunch budget for the rest of the week because of this. He also felt a little annoyed. Rarely in his life did he ever have to actually take responsibility for a prank. He consoled himself that there was still the possibility that these two freshmen would have the shame to refuse, and guessed that was what Woojin had in mind, too, when he made the offer. Also, as far as he knew, Woojin was more strapped for cash than he was and wouldn’t mindlessly make this offer.

Jisung and Seungmin turned to each other and briefly exchanged looks, then both turned towards the two upperclassmen.

“As long as I get compensated for that climb, then fine,” Seungmin spoke first, firmly.

“I won’t say no to free lunch!” Jisung declared on the other hand. 

Woojin looked at the two, his features forming a look of disbelief. “Y-you guys are really…” Both freshmen nodded in response.

Minho pursed his lips, thinking of how he and Woojin could wiggle themselves out of this one. The determined look on the two freshmen’s faces told him he didn’t have a lot of options. At the very least, he thought the pair weren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, so he could try outsmarting them.

“Except we’re not paying today, because Woojin didn’t exactly say when,” Minho gave the two freshmen a pointed look.

It was Seungmin’s turn to look at them in disbelief. “The fuck-” 

“You already agreed. As long as you get compensated, you said, but you didn’t say you need to get compensated today.” Minho smiled at Seungmin sweetly. 

Seungmin pursed his lips and glared at Minho for a good second before responding. “So when are we—”

Jisung interrupted him, however, with an exasperated groan. “Whatever, I’m hungry,” he declared and turned around.

Minho welcomed the distraction from Seungmin’s question by standing up and slinging an arm around the freshman and led the way to the serving area. “Let’s go! I’ll point to you what the tastiest and most budget-friendly deopbap in this cafeteria are!”

Woojin picked the cue up and stood up as well. “I’ll leave my readings here so no one will take our table.” He placed a hand on each of Seungmin’s shoulders and nudged him forward. The freshman kept on his icy glare but trudged forward to follow Minho and Jisung anyway.

As soon as the board displaying the available variety of rice toppings for the day came into view, Minho heard Jisung let out an awed, “Ooooh,” beside him. “You weren’t kidding when you talked about the variety, wow.” 

Minho turned to him and found Jisung with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. Indeed, the cafeteria at the basement of the science building had an amazing variety for a place to eat within the campus but the look on Jisung’s face made it seem he was looking at the aurora borealis or something equally fascinating instead. He couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you thinking of getting?”

“I can’t decide,” Jisung answered, with a small frown briefly forming on his features. “Which one is good, sunbaenim?” 

Minho blinked several times at the menu for a few seconds, mindlessly moving along the queue with Jisung until he realized he couldn’t decide, either. “I don’t know,” he answered. Before he knew it, he was face to face with the cafeteria employee taking orders, who was looking at him expectantly.

“I, uhm…”

The cafeteria employee rolled their eyes and turned to Jisung instead. “You can go first.” Minho followed the employee’s gaze and found Jisung wide-eyed, and seemingly tongue-tied.

“I, uhm…”

With another roll of the eyes, the cafeteria employee turned their gaze towards Seungmin, who was standing closely behind Jisung, craning his neck. “Does the donkatsu come with scrambled or fried eggs?” As soon as the employee confirmed that the meat was served on a bed of hot rice and scrambled eggs, Seungmin placed his order, and received a card with a number that would be called out as soon as his donkatsu was ready to be served. He walked past Minho and Jisung towards the waiting area.

The employee gave the two of them a quick glance, then turned towards Woojin, who was already grinning. “I’ll have the stir-fried chicken meal, please.” In what seemed like a mere second, Woojin walked past the two of them with his own numbered card as well and joined Seungmin. As if on cue, the employee looked towards them again, standing awkwardly by the counter.

Minho gave the menu another look, and decided to just order the topmost item on the menu. “Stir-fried squid, please.” To his surprise, though, it wasn’t just his voice that answered. Beside him, Jisung ordered the exact same thing, at the exact same time.

The employee swiftly took their payment and shoved into their hands a single card for both their orders before shooing them away with their nose. 

“Is it good, the stir-fried squid?” Jisung asked as soon as they stepped away, looking surprised.

“No idea,” Minho answered flatly as he led the way towards where Woojin and Seungmin were standing. “I couldn’t decide so I just ordered the topmost item on the menu. And it cooks fast.”

Jisung’s eyes widened, looking amazed. “Oh, I thought the same, too!”

Minho scoffed and shook his head in amusement over the coincidence Jisung was claiming to have just occurred. “You’re just saying that, aren’t you?”

“No!” Jisung denied vehemently. “I really did think of it that way.” He went on to explain that he knew so because he helped out in his grandmother’s beachside restaurant in Incheon during weekends. Minho found himself relating to this, and he shared that he was also used to doing service-oriented work because he had been helping out with his parents’ guesthouse in Gimpo ever since he was in high school. Jisung had lit up, excited about seemingly having found something in common with Minho, as trivial, and as loose a connection as it was. And then he continued to talk about how he mostly just helped out with bussing, and that he really didn’t know how to cook. His grandmother just mentioned it every so often when a customer would order a squid dish. Minho wasn’t sure what to do with that information, or how Jisung thought it was something he wanted to know about. He didn’t, really, but listening to Jisung talk about it was a nice way to pass the time in the hot, crowded cafeteria until their number was called.

Before Minho knew it, Jisung was already talking about a time when he suffered from indigestion and vomiting from eating too many grilled mussels in one seating during one summer he spent at his grandmother’s. Minho listened with continued amusement. There was something about the rapid and animated way Jisung related his story that was fascinating and kept Minho’s eyes and ears peeled for more. Before Jisung could go into the details of his then-affliction, though, their shared number was called out.

It wasn’t long until the four of them were seated at their table, each with their own meal trays in front of them. Without much of a word, they all started to dig in. Minho was already too hungry by then to talk until he’d gotten a bit of food into his stomach. After a mere bite in, though, he heard Seungmin make a gagging sound from across the table.

“You okay?” Woojin asked, looking up from his food.

“The sauce… does it always taste like this…?” Seungmin slowly asked, with his nose wrinkled up and and his forehead creased. He honestly looked like was about to cry, the thought of which gave Minho the need to suppress a giggle.

Woojin, frowning, dispensed some of the sauce on the side of his plate and dipped his chopsticks in it, then from there took a taste of the sauce. Immediately, he grimaced and gulped down some water. “They probably haven’t changed this from last semester, gross.”

Jisung then took the bottle and dispensed a bit on the side of his plate as well. Minho dipped his chopsticks into the small amount of sauce on Jisung’s place right after the younger one did. Minho grimaced slightly; it was a bit more sour than it usually was, if he could remember how the cafeteria’s donkatsu sauce tasted correctly, but it didn’t seem too bad. If he was in Seungmin’s place, he knew what to do.

“Just add ketchup-”

He stopped abruptly, again realizing that another voice beside him was giving Seungmin the exact same advice. 

“Oh, sunbaenim, you do that too?!” Jisung was already looking at Minho, surprised, when Minho turned towards him.

Minho couldn’t help but chuckle. He didn’t expect anyone else did or knew about the ketchup technique aside from himself. He’d never heard anyone mention it before, and when he suggested it to a friend in high school during lunch break, his entire circle of friends never let him live the moment down. He wasn’t bothered, though, and thought his friends were the ones missing out and wasting food. From what he learned in university so far, as well, a little bit of bacteria wouldn’t kill anyone, not especially a healthy male in their twenties, which what all four of them at the table seemed to be. “Yeah. Works pretty well, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’ll make it taste like normal and it’s not like the bacteria will kill you anyway.” He then turned towards Seungmin. Minho couldn’t help but be even more amused that Jisung had the exact same line of reasoning about it. “Try it!”

“What kind of a joke is that?” Seungmin looked at the both of them in disbelief. Woojin, beside him, looked equally incredulous.

Jisung scoffed. “It’s not a joke. It really works!” Minho gave Seungmin a quiet nod to express his views on the matter as well.

“That’s gross!” Seungmin barked back, then rose from his seat, to presumably request for a different bottle of donkatsu sauce. 

“_ That’s gross! _” Jisung mimicked Seungmin’s flat, nasal speaking voice as Seungmin walked away, which made Minho snort at how accurate of an imitation it was. “Even Minho-sunbaenim vouches for it. Are you saying our senior is gross? On the first day of classes?”

From across the table, Woojin had a hand clamped over his mouth and turned away, making an obvious attempt to suppress a laugh. Seungmin, meanwhile, only stepped away, bringing the bottle of spoiled donkatsu sauce with him back to the counter. 

“You two didn’t just come up with the exact same bullshit at the exact same time, did you?” Woojin asked the two of them as soon as Seungmin was outside earshot.

“What bullshit?” Minho asked Woojin, blinking. “It’s really what I do.”

“Same here!” Jisung piped in, with his face lighting up. “You’ve never heard of it or tried it before?”

Woojin only stared at the two of them, blinking for a few seconds before shaking his head. “I would rather not.”

— ›› —

"Yah, Kim Seungmin, did you really come here to text your new beau or to study?” Jisung smirks from across the table, at Seungmin whose gaze and grip had been fixed on his phone for the past hour that they've spent in the study cafe right across the Lotteria branch they just had dinner at. That was rather uncharacteristic of Seungmin, who was usually the most diligent among the four of them when it came to studying. He was basically asking Jisung to tease him.

Seungmin raises his gaze from his phone and gives Jisung a glare. "What do you want?"

"Nothing but a bright future for you, my dear shift partner,” Jisung replies with a reassuring tone that brings Minho’s gaze up from his textbook. He’s pretty sure it isn’t Seungmin’s _ bright future _ Jisung has in mind, but he's admittedly curious where this conversation is going. Everyone knows that even if Seungmin spends the rest of the night texting in the library, he wouldn’t fall behind in his studies. For all they know, Seungmin has finished reviewing for _ next semester's _ finals.

“What do you want?” Seungmin reiterates the question with a familiar edge in his tone.

“For you to stop texting and give me your help on this,” Jisung then pushes forward his laptop and turns it around so the screen would be facing Seungmin. Minho, seated beside Seungmin and right across Jisung, sees that on the screen is a copy of Seungmin’s own notes from what he could only guess is their zoonosis lecture from earlier that day. “I don’t understand why you wrote this.” Jisung points to a section at the bottom of the screen.

“I don’t see how Seungmin helping you out with understanding notes _ he _ let _ you _ copy relates to _ his _ bright future,” Woojin remarks, looking up from his textbook to join the conversation.

“If I don’t pass zoonosis this semester, I won’t be allowed to undertake a thesis on the next,” Jisung points out matter-of-factly.

Minho knows what Jisung is about to say instantly, and speaks on Jisung’s behalf before the younger one can even continue. “And if you’re not able to do your thesis next semester, Seungmin won’t be able to pair up with you, and will thus be robbed of a bright future.”

“Exactly!” Jisung exclaims, grinning widely. “You know my mind as always, Minho-hyung. Seungmin would lose the chance to have my brilliant self as a thesis partner. No one in our year is as brilliant as I am, unfortunately.”

“So brilliant you couldn’t be bothered to take notes on your own?” Woojin raises an eyebrow at Jisung.

Jisung raises his shoulders in a shrug. “I mean, what’s the point of two people writing down the same notes? That’s inefficient. Of course, only the brilliant me has thought of that.” He raises his hand to his chest and gives himself a pat while smiling proudly.

“And what did you do, oh brilliant one, while Seungmin took down notes?” Minho asks, leaning forward across the table towards Jisung to taunt him.

Jisung opens his mouth to answer, but Seungmin answers on his behalf in a deadpan manner as he sets his phone aside for the first time since they entered the study cafe that night, “He slept.”

“I conserved energy!” Jisung retorts while frowning at Seungmin and pulls his laptop back towards himself. “I was saving my energy so I can be alert on our shift tomorrow!”

Seungmin rolls his eyes before speaking again. “We were seated in the front row so Dr. Ok caught him dozing off right away. I tried to wake him up, but Dr. Ok stopped me and told me with the whole class watching not to disturb him. I was only able to wake him up when the class was over.”

Woojin clamps a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hold his laughter down. They _ are _ in a study cafe, after all. They were already talking in hushed voices, but laughing out loud is out of the question. Minho, meanwhile, gives Jisung a questioning, yet amused look, wordlessly asking him to confirm the story. Jisung’s reaction, though, not directed towards Minho, seems to do so.

“Wait? He saw me?!” Jisung looks at Seungmin in disbelief, while he tugged at the sleeve of his classmate’s sweater from across the table. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I’m telling you now, aren't I, oh brilliant one?” It’s Seungmin’s turn to raise his shoulders in a shrug. He then reaches for his backpack resting on the floor by the feet of his chair to take his laptop out. “Besides, we were sitting in the second row. _ Of course _, he saw you. You fell asleep halfway through the lecture.” 

Woojin mirrors Seungmin’s shrug and lets out a low chuckle, the best he could allow to slip out of his lips without disturbing the atmosphere of the cafe. “Honestly, whether or not Seungmin told you right after your class or now hardly makes a difference at this point.”

Minho wants to laugh, but Jisung looks so terribly distraught by the revelation that he couldn’t help but reach out across the table and give Jisung a soft pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Jisungie. Dr. Ok won’t flunk you for sleeping in class,” he says, attempting to look reassuring while also holding down laughter brewing at the back of his throat. 

“But Choyeon is in that class, too! That means she saw what happened!” Jisung groans and sinks back in his chair. His groan earns him a shushing sound from the occupants of the table across theirs.

Minho immediately pulls his hand back and places it on top of his open textbook, feeling his heart sink slowly to his stomach. Choyeon is a girl in Jisung and Seungmin’s year, with whom the two also share a lot of classes with, but belonged to a different friend group. She’s a very pleasant and cheerful girl, though she could get a little too loud; at least that's what Minho had noticed during shifts when she pairs up with Jisung, which had happened every so often in the past. Nonetheless, when Jisung had announced to him, Woojin and Seungmin at the start of the semester that he had a crush on her, Minho easily understood why.

The announcement, however, only gave Minho more reason to keep his _ own _ feelings for Jisung to himself. Choyeon isn’t the first crush Jisung has shared with them since the four of them became friends; he’d had a string of them since their freshman year. Whenever Jisung likes someone new, Minho always noticed that Jisung puts a bit more effort into his appearance, and try to act cool and confident whenever he’s in front of his crush. Jisung, truthfully, already has a natural air of confidence about him, which Minho finds endearing, but Jisung wrapping a false layer of aloofness around that, when anyone close enough to him would know better, is never not hilarious. 

Minho often wants to tell Jisung he only has to act like himself to create better chances for his crush to like him back. It sounds like a cliche advice, but Minho draws it from experience. _ He _ fell for Jisung just being his confident, impulsive, sometimes short-sighted, and loud self, and it's difficult to imagine how Jisung’s crushes would not. He never does, though. Maybe Minho is worried he would somehow reveal his own feelings in the process, or he’s worried that Jisung would follow his advice and actually succeed in having one of his crushes like him back.

In the end, though, most of Jisung’s crushes just fizzle out. None of them has ever come close to evolving into a proper relationship and even though once or twice, Jisung managed to confess, he easily and quickly got rejected. Strangely enough, Jisung always moved on quickly from these things. He was sad for a day or two, then soon afterwards, he'd announced a new crush to the group, marking the beginnings of his usual cycle.

“Don’t worry, she probably thinks it’s cute,” Woojin wiggles his eyebrows at Jisung and gives the younger one a light and playful shove.

“It probably helps,” Seungmin chimes in. “I mean, if you do like her and plan to get serious with her, you probably won’t be able to keep up the cool image you keep trying to put up whenever you’re in front of her, so that was a nice way to slowly show her your true dumbass self.”

To that, Woojin chuckles again and turns to Seungmin. “Did you see Jisung the other day when she was asking him a question?” He then raises his nose in the air and furrows his brows slightly, exaggerating the way Jisung tries to look cool in front of his crushes. 

Seungmin lets out a snort in response, while Jisung frowns. “I don’t look like that!” he protests loudly, earning himself another shushing sound from somewhere else within the cafe.

“You do, Jisungie,” Minho speaks finally, validating Woojin’s imitation, still with his amused grin from earlier. Minho hopes that if it had faltered, it wouldn’t be obvious. 

Jisung opens his mouth to let out a soundless groan. “You guys are exaggerating,” he mutters and turns his laptop screen back towards himself, with a deep, annoyed frown sitting on his features, while Seungmin and Woojin both try to stifle their snickers. Minho is the same, though he can’t help himself from reaching across the table to ruffle Jisung’s hair. 

Jisung gives no response and keeps his gaze towards his laptop screen. Minho isn’t sure, though, if the frown on Jisung’s face eased a little after his gesture, or if that’s just him seeing what he wants to see.

— ‹‹ —

It wasn’t long until Woojin and Minho saw Jisung and Seungmin again. They had another class in the science building right before lunchtime on the following Friday, and it made sense for them to take their lunch at the cafeteria there. Just as soon as they settled into their seats, the sight of the two freshmen approaching them caught Minho's eye, with an enthusiastic-looking Jisung leading a reluctant Seungmin. Minho was surprised these two were even within ten meters of each other with how much they bickered when they last saw them. He nonetheless found himself grinning as soon as Jisung found and met his gaze. He wasn't sure why when this encounter wasn't exactly a good thing. The two freshmen could very well be coming for the free lunch they had been promised earlier in the week. 

Still, Minho enjoyed the conversation he had during their lunch earlier in the week. Truthfully, he every so often thought of the things they talked about. When he had a squid dish in the evening of the next day again, for example, he remembered how Jisung chose the exact same dish for the same reasons he had. On the day after, his roommate talked about going to the beach during the summer, then remembered Jisung mentioning he spent his summers helping out in his grandmother’s beachside restaurant in Incheon.

Woojin, though, didn’t seem pleased. He kicked Minho in the shin under the table, which prompted Minho to break his gaze with Jisung to turn to his friend. 

“What?” Minho asked, looking and feeling surprised. “They probably already forgot about the lunch.”

Before Woojin could respond to that, Jisung and Seungmin were already in front of their table. The two dipped their heads in a small bow. Minho gave them a small nod in return. 

“How are you guys doing?” Minho asked, putting on a confident smile that wouldn’t make it seem like he was hoping they forgot something.

Woojin, across the table, shot Minho a hesitant look before mirroring the countenance Minho put on. “I wasn’t expecting to see you guys still together,” he added with a soft chuckle that gave none of his concerns from just a few seconds ago away.

“Ah, well, we share a lot of classes, so-” Jisung answered, grinning.

“He borrows a lot of my stuff and I need to make sure he returns them,” Seungmin cut him off from behind.

Jisung turned around to protest the accusation. “I’ve returned the pen!”

“Not the highlighter, if you even remember you grabbed it from my desk without asking?” Seungmin raised an eyebrow.

Minho couldn’t help but laugh at how the two were fighting again within a few seconds of starting a conversation with him and Woojin. “Glad to hear things have been stellar between you guys,” he remarked, shifting in his seat. “Wanna join us?” Underneath the table, Woojin gave him another kick in the shin, which Minho just ignored. It was important that they didn’t look nervous.

“Actually, that’s why we’re here!” Jisung turned away from Seungmin immediately at the invitation. “We were looking for a table and we saw you two.”

“Then we remembered you owe us lunch,” Seungmin continued on Jisung’s behalf. Beside him, Jisung nodded solemnly.

Woojin pressed his lips into a thin line. “About that…”

“We didn’t say we’ll pay for it today either,” Minho answered with a sweet smile, hoping to throw Seungmin off. 

It seemed to work, for the freshman blinked at him several times, with his lips pressed into a thin line before answering. “So when, then?” 

“How about you just join us for now?” Woojin pulled out the chair beside his to offer it to Seungmin. “There aren’t a lot of free tables left, after all.”

Jisung let out a loud groan, but took the seat right beside Minho’s anyway. “Just to let you know, sunbaenim, Seungmin tails me for an eraser I allegedly borrowed—”

“And a highlighter,” Seungmin hissed as he took the seat beside Woojin’s, and laid his backpack at the feet of his chair. 

Jisung rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, what I’m saying is, he won’t let you off, and nor will I,” he spoke with his eyes overflowing with determination that Minho couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“We’ll see,” Minho only kept smiling, while wondering at the back of his head if they were indeed ever going to get the two freshmen off their trail, and why he had to fight down the urge to give Jisung a pat on the head. “Shall we get something to eat?”

The four of them stood up to fall in line, leaving their bags to make sure no other students would take their table. Jisung lined up behind Minho once again, with Seungmin behind him following the taller freshman close behind. Minho, this time, knew what he was getting, and wasted no time in ordering rice topped with slices of beef. Jisung didn’t ask him about what he was getting this time, nor did Minho pay much attention to what the younger one ordered.

They were back to their tables before too long, and each one of them started to eat as soon as they were seated. It was Minho’s phone that broke the silence just when Minho was about halfway through his bowl of rice and slices of marinated beef. His phone screen lit up along with the notification announcing that a new message had arrived for him. Behind the notification was a picture of his two cats, sleeping against each other.

“Oh, wait, are those your cats?” Jisung asked excitedly as Minho picked his phone up. Minho couldn’t help but smile. People noticing his cats always made him a strange sort of proud.

He nodded to Jisung in response. “Soonie and Doongie,” he gave Jisung the names before shifting his gaze towards his phone screen to read the message.

That didn’t seem enough of an answer for Jisung to leave the topic of his cats. “Do you have more pictures of them?” 

“Of course,” Minho answered and placed his phone on the table, deciding then that he could delay replying to the message from a senior he’d become friends with recently. He navigated to his photos app to show Jisung the pictures of his cats his mother had been sending him since the start of the semester. His family lived in Gimpo, which was a bit too far to travel to and from everyday, so Minho had to move to a goshiwon in the next district and leave his cats with his parents during the semester. He still went home every weekend, though.

He clicked on the thumbnail of a picture of a picture with all three cats looking at the camera, and started introducing each of them to Jisung. “This is Soonie, the older one,” he said, pointing to the cat on the right. “I adopted her from a shelter in middle school. She’s quite old, but still affectionate as ever.”

From the corner of his eye, Minho saw Jisung nod and continue to look intently at his screen. He saw Seungmin briefly lean forward as well, only to retreat and continue with his meal when he was able to catch a glimpse of the cats. Woojin continued to eat. During the past year, he had received more than enough unsolicited cat stories from Minho to last him a lifetime.

“She’s cute, and she does look kind, like she doesn’t get mad. And the other one?” Jisung spoke in an uncharacteristically soft voice when Minho paused.

Minho found himself forming a small smile with his lips before continuing. Being a veterinary medicine major, it wasn’t difficult to find other students who would be interested in listening to him talk about his cats. Most of the people he encountered loved animals to varying extents. It would be strange if they didn’t. It was the first time he heard anyone say that about Soonie, though. He wasn’t sure if Jisung only said that because Minho had described Soonie as affectionate, or if that was a genuine opinion of his. Either way, Minho appreciated it, for that was what he thought of how Soonie looked as well.

“And then this is Doongie-”

Jisung interrupted him. “Oh, that one looks kinda mean,” he said, chuckling softly.

“You guessed right,” Minho chuckled right back. “When I went home for the first time in a while during the summer break, she barely acknowledged me.” He then placed one of his hands on the table and put his palm face up for Jisung to see. “See these scratches? She gifted these to me.”

Jisung leaned in to get a closer look at the scratches. “Oh wow, there’s a lot!” he exclaimed then pulled away. “She doesn’t hurt Soonie, at least?”

Minho shook his head. “She’s more or less nice to Soonie. It’s me and my mom she holds a grudge towards,” he answered, laughing. 

In response, Jisung laughed along as well and then neared his finger towards Minho’s screen. “Are there more…?”

“Yeah, of course," Minho answered and moved the phone closer towards Jisung so he could have a look at the album himself. Jisung then took the phone and took his time to browse the album. Minho watched his face light up every so often, and entertained Jisung’s questions about particular pictures taken outside the house, or when the cats were doing something unusual. There was one shot of Doongie looking at the camera like he was caught doing a crime that cracked Jisung up. 

“Do you have cats?” Minho asked soon after Jisung went quiet. He wondered if Jisung was planning to browse his entire album because he hadn’t let go of Minho’s phone even once.

Jisung shook his head. “No, but my grandma has a dog. Mideumi’s great- wait.” Jisung finally handed Minho’s phone back to him so he could take his own phone out of his jeans pocket. He unlocked his screen, and showed Minho a medium-sized, brown Jindo dog. “I’ve always wanted a cat, but things always got in the way. Like with my grandma, Mideumi didn’t grow up with any other animal around so he’s pretty hostile with cats. Right now, meanwhile, I live with my aunt here in Seoul, and she’s allergic to fur, so-” He let a shrug finish his sentence. 

“How about while you were growing up?” Minho asked, finding himself curious. Jisung had already mentioned a grandmother in Incheon, and now an aunt in Seoul, but he hadn’t mentioned any immediate family members yet. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, but he guessed being curious wasn’t unnatural. There was also something fascinating about how the younger one so easily talked about himself. Minho felt like he could ask anything and Jisung won’t mind.

“Oh, I moved around a lot while growing up, so I didn’t have any pets,” Jisung answered, the corners of his mouth slightly turning downwards. “It was only when I started high school that my parents sent me here to stay with my grandmother because they wanted me to get a degree from a Korean university. But our family’s always liked animals!” he continued with his face breaking into a wide grin. “We always feed and house strays when we have the chance; we just can’t raise animals in the long-term because we moved every few or so years.”

“That’s a little sad,” was all Minho could comment, giving the younger one a sympathetic smile.

“I know! It’s fine, now, though,” Jisung flashed Minho a toothy grin, long enough for Minho to notice his crooked two front teeth. “Now I’ve got Mideumi during the weekends, at least.” 

Minho shook his head and decided to finally resume his meal. He picked his chopsticks up and spoke before taking a bite out of his now-lukewarm bowl of food. “But you’d want a cat given the choice?”

Jisung shook his head. “I’d like to be able to raise both, I think,” he answered while he mirrored Minho’s action and picked back up his own pair of chopsticks. “I don’t think I can really choose right now, it’ll be like asking me to choose between cake and ice cream,” he laughed. “But truthfully, I’ve never been able to take care of a cat for more than a week or two, so I’m not really sure.”

Minho opened his mouth to respond to that, thinking of convincing him playfully that cats were better, but Seungmin suddenly spoke up from across the table. Minho instead found himself blinking in surprise; it felt like Seungmin hadn’t been in front of them for the past— he checked the clock on his phone and realized half an hour had passed since he and Jisung started talking about animals.

“We have class in fifteen minutes,” Seungmin reminded Jisung sternly, then stood up with his tray in his hands.

“Already?!” Jisung looked just as surprised as Minho was when he checked the time on his phone. They both probably hadn’t realized that they spent their short lunch break just talking about cats and dogs.

Woojin stood up after Seungmin and spoke to Minho. “We need to be going in a bit, too. Finish your food.”

“Yes, sir,” Minho responded with a chuckle and a playful salute. He then looked at Jisung, who was already wolfing down on what remained of his lunch as quickly as possible. 

“Sunbaenim,” Jisung suddenly spoke in between bites. “Where will you be having lunch on Monday?” 

“Why are you asking?” Minho quickly asked before taking a bite of his own. 

Jisung shrugged while he brought his bowl closer to his face. “I just thought it was nice talking to you, sunbaenim!”

“And this isn’t a ploy so you and Seungmin could tail us for your free lunch?” Minho asked, raising an eyebrow once more.

Jisung put his bowl down and laughed. “No! I didn’t even think of that! Sunbaenim! I just want to become friends with you!”

Minho let out a playful scoff and shook his head. “Woojin and I usually eat outside the campus on Mondays and Thursdays, we don’t really have a set place.”

“Oh.” Jisung’s face fell briefly at his answer. “Can I still join you guys, then? Seungmin might come along because we have classes together then, too...”

Minho gave a small nod. “I’ll text you where we’ll be eating. Just give me your Kakao ID.”

— ›› —

It’s the last Thursday shift at the teaching hospital for the semester before finals week. The unforgiving schedules and requirements everyone has to put up with have been taking a toll on everyone’s minds and bodies. Half an hour before the shift was to start, Minho had received a call from Seungmin, saying the cold he’d been nursing during the past few days had turned into a full-fledged fever, and he wouldn’t be able to come. Minho had readily agreed that it was indeed better that he rested as soon as he could, and be sure he would be well enough for finals week.

This is why a couple of hours and an emergency surgery later, Minho is seated with Jisung in the cafeteria instead of his usual place with Woojin at the triage desk. It’s the first time they both had been able to sit that day, much less, enjoy a cup of instant coffee.

“Seungmin owes you big-time, hyung,” Jisung says as he lays down his half-empty cup on the table. “You should ask him to buy you dinner. Which would include me, by extension.”

Minho lets out a low chuckle. “I’m sure he didn’t want to be out sick. And why are you included, by extension?” It isn’t really a serious question. Truthfully, if Minho is to egg Seungmin on to buy him dinner, he would easily insist that Jisung be included. Partly because he knows it would rile Seungmin up, and also because he knows Jisung would get so much satisfaction from Seungmin finally buying him dinner for the first time in five years.

“Just because!” he declares defiantly. “We are an extension of each other, hyung! And besides, I got stressed out thinking I was going to assist Dr. Kim alone, and you know Dr. Kim...” He trails off to form a grimace with his mouth upon invoking the name of the reputably prickly and quick-tempered high-ranking professor in the college of veterinary medicine. 

Minho finds himself pressing his lips tightly together to keep the edges from curling up. He isn’t sure what to make out of what Jisung is saying, and what he means exactly, or is thinking of when he said they were an extension of each other. It can very well be Jisung twisting logic to justify getting Seungmin to buy him dinner, but Minho can’t dismiss the bubbling feeling in his chest that suggested it could be something that tells of how Jisung genuinely feels about their friendship. He shakes his head, appearing to disagree, though it’s really more of an attempt to shake the feeling off.

“If there’s anyone Seungmin should be buying dinner, it’s Woojin,” Minho replies flatly. “He volunteered to take on triage duties on his own just so I can join you.”

Jisung lets out a huff and gives Minho a hard stare. Minho can tell Jisung is trying his very best to counter what Minho had just said. Unable to help himself, he reaches across the table to ruffle the hair on Jisung’s head, smiling teasingly. “There, there. You’ll find other ways to get Seungmin to buy you dinner-”

“Wait, hyung!” Jisung cranes his neck to move his head from under Minho’s hand. Minho swiftly pulls his hand away and raises an eyebrow at Jisung.

“My hair, I fixed it today,” Jisung answers, gently patting down the top of his head. “You didn’t notice?”

Minho can’t help but laugh. Now that Jisung mentions it, though, his hair does look different, and that explains why Minho had thought something was unusual about Jisung that morning. He didn’t have time to figure it out, though, with him suddenly needing to assist with an emergency surgery. 

“Just now,” Minho answers, thinking that to say Jisung cleans up rather nicely is an understatement. He looks _ good _, despite his skin looking a little pastier than usual. “Instead of looking like a worn-out mop, you look like you have a brand-new mop instead- Did you put on BB cream, too?”

“Hyung!” Jisung stands up and reaches across the table to place a hand over Minho’s mouth. “Lower your voice. Someone might hear you!”

Laughing, Minho grabs one of Jisung’s wrists to peel the younger’s hands off of his face. “You could have chosen something that matched your skin tone, for one thing. What’s up, though?”

Jisung appears to nervously scan the entire cafeteria, but other than a couple of interns on the opposite side of the cafeteria and the staff idling behind the counter, Minho and Jisung are practically by themselves. Seemingly satisfied, he leans over and speaks in a hushed tone.

“I’m joining Choyeon and her friends to study tonight after today’s shift.” After giving his answer, he settles back into his seat. 

Minho wants to pretend Jisung’s answer doesn’t make sense; it would have been fun to tease Jisung into spelling out that he put effort into looking nice because he’s spending time with his crush later in the day. The revelation, though, leaves him feeling more deflated than anything else. He thinks it’s funny, though. He’d known about all of Jisung’s crushes before, and this one is no exception. It _ is _ the first time, though, that Jisung has done anything like this, and it’s a sign that for once, things are actually progressing, or had a remote chance of progressing anyway, and that, Minho realizes, is surprisingly difficult to stomach.

“Seoyeon still owed me for that one time I covered for her shift, so her way of paying me back is to let me to join their study group,” Jisung continues to explain when Minho didn’t say anything. Seoyeon is another student in Jisung and Seungmin’s year, and is friends with Choyeon. From as far as Minho could tell, they aren’t that close, but they belong to roughly the same friend group.

“Oh, so it wasn’t Choyeon who invited you, but Seoyeon?” Minho asks in a soft voice, while pretending to suddenly be reading something off of his phone screen.

“Yes! I mean, of course, it would have been better if it was Choyeon who invited me, but this is good, too!” Jisung answers. “I haven’t even talked to her outside the campus. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” is all Minho says. He really doesn’t know what else to say when his mind is occupied by the sinking feeling in his gut. 

Jisung doesn’t seem the slightest bit bothered by the facade of nonchalance Minho had put on. Instead he continues to lean over, putting his face only a short distance away from Minho’s. Something about that feels strangely cruel to Minho, but he’s sure Jisung doesn’t intend any of it.

“Did you notice, hyung-”

“No,” Minho answers flatly before Jisung could even finish his sentence, then put on a faint mischievous grin, lest his tone betrays how he really feels about the entire thing. “Just kidding, go on.”

“Hyung!” Jisung whines, laughing briefly before turning serious again. “I tried toning down… you know, the thing Woojin-hyung said that one time?”

“Woojin says a lot of things,” Minho points out, despite knowing exactly what Jisung means. He’s noticed that Jisung has started to act more like himself around Choyeon. It seems Woojin’s teasing from last week provided the push in the right direction that Jisung needed to up his chances with his crush. And it seems to be working. Choyeon has started to look more comfortable around Jisung, or at least, that’s what Minho could tell from the times he’d chanced upon them talking along the hallways of the teaching hospital

“Hyung!” 

Minho only raises an eyebrow at Jisung in response. Despite his own feelings at that moment, he can’t help but tease Jisung. “You need to be more specific.”

“You know what I mean!” Jisung continues to resist Minho prodding him into spelling what he meant out.

Minho opens his mouth, with the intention to deny what Jisung had just said, but he’s cut short when he sees Woojin enter the cafeteria. In a few seconds, he takes the seat beside Minho’s and gives Jisung a long, hard look.

“Did you put on BB cream?” Woojin asks, squinting. He then pulls Minho’s cup of coffee towards him by the handle and takes a sip from it.

“Is it really that obvious?!” Jisung asks, starting to appear frantic. He takes his phone and places it in front of his face, presumably to use the front camera as a mirror to check his appearance.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you used an entire tube,” Woojin answers, laughing, until a frantic look forms on Jisung’s face. “Just kidding, you look all right, don’t worry.”

Jisung lets out a huff. “BB cream or no BB cream, I look handsome anyway,” he declares and raises his nose in the air, which makes Woojin snort. 

“Did you try to look like an actual human being today because of Choyeon? You taking her out on a date or something?” Woojin teases, while he throws a barely perceptible glance in Minho’s direction.

Jisung goes on to repeat to Woojin what he had just told Minho earlier about his plans for the night. He actually looks proud of himself that Minho wants to give him a pat on the head again, only to remember that Jisung spent time on trying to look nice. He instead turns to Woojin, thinking it would be better to change the topic. 

“What are you doing here, by the way?” Minho asks, this time his turn to squint at Woojin. He’s supposed to be behind the triage desk. So is Minho, for that matter, and he’d intended to go back and help Woojin after he finishes his coffee. The shift seems to be a slow one after all.

“Jisun and Gyuri kicked me out of the triage desk,” Woojin answers, then presses his lips into a thin smile after he speaks of the two other interns who are in the same year as him and Minho. “They said they wanted to do triage duty one last time, even if it’s just for a couple of hours.”

“Right, it’s your last day here…” Jisung sinks into his chair, with his face falling as he does so. The wave of sadness that seem to wash over Jisung reaches Minho, and he finds himself turning his gaze towards the white ceramic tiles that line the floor of the cafeteria. He isn’t one to feel sentimental, but it still feels odd that this is likely the last time he’s going to see those tiles.

“Now, don’t be too sad,” Woojin tells Jisung and reaches across the table to give the younger one a pat on the shoulder. “You have a date tonight. Sort of. Good luck.”

“I wish we could go drinking or something,” Jisung answers, frowning.

“We can drink after finals,” Minho answers, shrugging slightly. “Seungmin’s sick anyway.”

Jisung then rolls his eyes. “Is he really? I’m pretty sure Seungmin is _ love sick _ more than actually sick...” He trails off to wrinkle his nose in apparent disgust. “Have you seen what he’s like lately? He’s always texting on his phone, grinning like an idiot. It’s annoying.”

“How’s that annoying? Our Seungminnie has a crush now, too, just like you do, Jisung,” Woojin says with a knowing smile, propping his elbows on top of the table and resting his chin on his palms before very briefly throwing a glance towards Minho, which Minho chooses to ignore.

“Yah, Woojin-hyung!” Jisung lets out a huff and folds his arms across his chest. “Aren’t you annoyed?”

“No?” The laugh Woojin lets out after answering rang across the entire cafeteria. 

“How about you, hyung?” Jisung shoots the same question at Minho, the look on his face almost pleading for Minho to side with him on this.

Minho raises his shoulders in a shrug, which is really him figuratively shrugging off the temptation to give in to Jisung. He’s happy for Seungmin, really, and there isn't any need to pretend otherwise. “Good for him. I hope things work out between him and Hyunjin if they do genuinely like each other.”

“Fine, maybe I’m the only one who’s annoyed because I’m the one who’s stuck with him most often,” Jisung continues to frown, even as he takes a sip from his cup of coffee.

Woojin sniggers in response to that. “Maybe you’re just envious because unlike you, Seungmin is actually making progress?”

“Yah!” Jisung groans out loud. “It’s not that! It’s, it’s…” He then lets out a loud sigh before muttering under his breath, “Whatever.”

“Jisung says you’re right,” Minho tells Woojin, then wiggles his eyebrows once more at Jisung. He can’t help but tease, infuriating Jisung to a certain extent was always entertaining. Minho thinks Woojin isn’t wrong, either. Jisung does seem envious of Seungmin for having a hint of romance in his life amidst all the things they have to get through to get their respective diplomas. This is also the only explanation Minho could think of as to why Jisung would find what was going on with Seungmin _ annoying _ recently. For one thing, the only change Minho has noticed about Seungmin during the past week was that the latter was looking at his phone a bit more often than usual, but other than that, Seungmin was still his usual grumpy and sarcastic self. Minho thinks Seungmin could still be a little nicer, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary, and Jisung’s complaint is most likely coming from somewhere else. 

“You two are ganging up on me again!” Jisung complains loudly and folds his arms across his chest. 

“We’re only stating our observations and basing a diagnosis from those,” Woojin answers, chuckling as he takes another sip from Minho’s coffee cup. “Something we do always do here.”

“You guys are mean!” Jisung downs what remains of his coffee and stands up from his seat. 

— ‹‹ —

It was the start of a new school year and Jisung and Minho were in the middle of a heated discussion during lunch, something about the diet of Jisung’s grandma’s dog. 

They were parked at their usual lunch table at the cafeteria, because somehow, over the course of the previous year the four of them had become a kind of unit. Jisung kept tagging along during lunch, and he always brought along Seungmin who, just as Jisung had warned, was hell-bent on making Minho and Woojin pay for at least one lunch meal, just as they had promised. They’d eventually caved and treated the two to no less than a full meal, complete with a handful of side dishes, at a nearby family restaurant (where Woojin managed to score discount coupons, not that the two freshmen needed to know that), but by then the four of them had settled as a friend group, and it was simply a given that they ate lunch together every day.

Woojin and Seungmin, by then used to Minho and Jisung and their tendencies to get lost in their own world, had long stopped trying to insert themselves into the oftentimes weird conversations the latter two had, so they quietly ate their lunch – at least Woojin did; Seungmin multitasked and ate his lunch while reviewing his OChem notes, occasionally posing questions that Woojin would answer in between bites.

“You should try feeding him ground pork,” Minho insisted. “That worked for someone I know.”

“Are you sure that’s not just some kind of urban myth?” Jisung asked with a frown. “My Grandma is really worried because Mideumi hasn’t been eating as much recently.”

“One of my classmates mentioned doing it with her dog in class, and the professor didn’t say anything, so—” Minho shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Has she taken him to a Vet, yet?”

“No,” Jisung shook his head. “She called me because she thinks I’d have answers ready—I told her I’m barely halfway through my first year of school! And then she told me to ask you. She was pretty charmed by you, hyung!”

Minho chuckled, even as he tried to hide how pleased he was at the fact that he’d apparently made a good impression on Jisung’s grandmother. There really was no reason why he should care what any of Jisung’s family thought of him – or so he tried to convince himself.

“Wait—” Woojin interjected, and both Minho and Jisung froze for a second, caught off-guard as they suddenly remembered that there were two other people at the table with them. “Minho met your grandmother?”

The question is directed at Jisung, but he easily cast a brief sideways glance at Minho’s direction; Minho, meanwhile, chose to avert his gaze, and pretended to be busy with his food instead.

“Yeah!” Jisung answered a little too cheerfully. “Minho-hyung came and stayed over for a couple of days!” His entire face lit up as he launched into a story about the things the two of them had gotten up to during those two days that Minho visited Jisung over the winter break, and even without looking up, Minho could easily feel the weight of Woojin’s questioning stare that was aimed at him.

“Wow,” Woojin chuckled at Jisung's retelling of their combined antics. “Over two years of friendship, and not once Minho has visited me in Daejeon.”

Minho cleared his throat. “Well, Incheon is a whole lot closer to Gimpo than Daejeon is,” he pointed out; somehow he felt the need to clear this up, even though he shouldn't have any reason to be defensive.

“I’ve never been to Jisung’s grandmother’s place in Incheon either,” Seungmin butted in. 

“Why? Did you want to go?” Jisung asked, brow creased in confusion when he turned to face his same-aged friend.

“No,” Seungmin answered flatly. “But I’ve never been invited to go, either.”

“It was only because Jisung kept talking about Mideumi, so I decided to go see the dog for myself,” Minho explained while he scraped the last spoonful of rice off his bowl. “That’s all.”

“Yeah!” Jisung agreed all too quickly, and Minho tried to ignore the hint of disappointment he felt from that. It wasn’t as if he was expecting Jisung to clarify that he’d invited Minho to come because he missed him. 

“Oh, Minho,” Woojin gestured at him and then nodded towards the entrance of the cafeteria. “I think Jisun’s calling for you.”

Minho straightened up and glanced at the entrance – sure enough, he was met with Jisun staring at him with her round, button eyes. She was impatiently tapping on her wrist watch, reminding Minho that he had made plans to meet with her before his lunch break ended. The two of them had been flirting and exchanging messages throughout the break, but Minho didn’t think it was going to go anywhere much further.

He gathered his food tray and pushed his chair back, anyway.

“I’m off,” he announced. 

“See you in class,” Woojin told him, while Seungmin simply nodded. He thought Jisung’s expression fell a little, but he didn’t want to assume that meant anything. He had no reason to be disappointed after all, not when he’d spent most of winter updating Minho whenever his favored Mina-sunbaenim (or _ Mina-sempai, _ as Jisung jokingly called her, just because she was Japanese) updated any of her SNS accounts.

— ›› —

It’s two days before finals week starts, and Minho and Jisung are camped out at the library, doing last minute revisions. It’s just the two of them this time because Woojin had taken a train back home the previous night, in part to visit his parents, but mostly because he had a scheduled interview at a renowned chicken farm in Daejeon, while Seungmin had opted to study by himself at home. 

“It’s only because he’s really texting that Hyunjin instead of studying,” Jisung had grumbled earlier, with a more than an obvious hint of bitterness in his tone.

Apparently Jisung has just found out that Choyeon already has a boyfriend who attends another school. He’d learned this after he marches up to her, chest puffed out, and asks her if she would like to go out with him once they were done with exams.

And now Jisung just looks plain out of it. He has his laptop opened in front of him, and a notebook by his side where Minho knows he usually makes personal notes (that he bases on Seungmin’s notes which he’s always provided a soft copy of, and it’s silly that Jisung makes notes about _ notes, _ but it’s worked for him all these years so far, so Minho can’t really knock his process off), but instead of focusing on his laptop, he has cheek resting on the table while he doodles in the margins of his notebook.

“Jisungie—” Minho sighs, a small frown lining his features because he can’t help but be affected by Jisung’s sulking. Not for the first time, he muses about how easily Jisung affects the atmosphere around him – as much as they tease him, he’s easily the mood-maker within their group. 

More than that, he also can’t help but note how this is the first time a rejection has affected Jisung badly. _ He must have really liked her, _ he thinks to himself while trying his best not to frown at the realisation.

He isn’t sure how to continue his sentence; all he knows is that he has to physically stop himself from giving in to the urge to reach over and gently pat Jisung on the head. Minho is still also feeling mildly guilty about how his first reaction to Jisung telling him earlier about the news, had been relief and excitement. He isn’t supposed to be pleased about his friend’s misfortunes, after all.

“Jisungie,” he repeats when the younger only grunts in response at his earlier call out. Minho quickly wracks his mind with ways to make Jisung feel better, and then he remembers something that he’s actually been meaning to do for a while now. He figures at the very least, that this something will help distract Jisung.

“What is it, hyung?” Jisung says, sighing as he looks up to meet Minho’s gaze.

“Want to help me with something?” He smiles genuinely, openly, and for once there’s not a hint of teasing in his voice.

“What kind of something?” Jisung perks up with interest, his eyes lighting up just a tad as he straightens up in his seat.

Minho gestures for him to come over, pulling out the chair next to him so Jisung can park himself there instead of across the table where he currently sat. The younger is quick to get up and shuffle over, even moving the chair so that there’s barely an inch of space between him and Minho.

Minho angles his laptop so that Jisung has a better view of the screen, and then he opens one of his bookmarked tabs.

“A Cat shelter website?” Jisung asks, leaning in until his cheek is easily and comfortably resting against Minho’s arm. 

“I was thinking of adopting another cat,” Minho shares with him, trying not to turn his head and look at Jisung. He’s so close – _ too _ close, and Minho is afraid that if he looks at Jisung in that moment, his feelings will betray him. “My treat to myself now that I’m graduating,” he adds with a chuckle. “Soonie and Doongie pretty much grew up away from me, so this time I want to be more hands on.”

“Oh!” Jisung grins excitedly and sits up straight; Minho finally braves looking at him, and he’s relieved to see that light has completely returned in the younger’s eyes. “How can I help?”

“Well, you get to have the honor of picking the perfect new little sister – or brother – for me,” Minho informs him as he habitually ruffles Jisung’s hair. And then he inches the laptop closer towards Jisung, allowing the younger control of the touchpad and letting him navigate the website.

“You want a kitten, right, hyung?” Jisung asks, already quite absorbed with the task at hand. “Because you said you want to raise them yourself.”

“Mhm,” Minho hums in agreement; he should be looking at the screen as well, but he has a hard time tearing his gaze away from Jisung. “But—” He clears his throat, and forces himself to turn to the laptop anyway, “—older cats are okay, too, I guess. All these cats need a home, after all.”

“They have a page specifically for ones less than half a year old,” Jisung announces. There’s a light bounce in his tone, and he’s practically buzzing in his seat with excitement, and Minho is glad that he’s managed to distract him from his earlier woes. “They’re all so cute, I want to pet them,” Jisung shares, laughing. “I like this one,” He says, pointing at a white cat with dark patches. “Yeoreum, but— oh!” He blows up a picture of a sleeping tri-color kitten. “Dori looks adorable, as well.”

“Geez, you’re even more excited than I am,” Minho teases, shaking his head. 

“New pets are always exciting, hyung!” Jisung announces with a laugh that’s a little too loud, which earns him a hiss from their table neighbor. “Let’s set an appointment right after your last final, hyung,” he whispers, after nodding apologetically at the other student. 

“Alright,” Minho agrees, pulling his laptop back towards him. “I’ll message them now, and then we can go back to studying.” 

“Okay,” Jisung readily agrees, clearly in a much chipper mood than he had been not even half an hour ago.

**⭐ VET MED ALL-STARS ⭐** ** _  
_** _ w00gene, mh___2, js___1, ks2ungmin _  
20xx.12.15

js___1 (20:14): hello friends!  
ks2ungmin (20:14): who  
w00gene (20:14): hi jisung  
mh___2 (20:15): didn’t u just finish an exam?  
mh___2 (20:15): aren’t u 2 together lol  
js___1 (20:15): yes  
ks2ungmin (20:15): no  
js___1 (20:16): seungmin is getting us coffee  
ks2ungmin (20:15): getting myself coffee u mean  
js___1 (20:16): ANYWAY  
js___1 (20:16): i have come to a realisation  
w00gene (20:16): r u 2 still at school?  
js___1 (20:17): yes but w8 listen 2 me first  
mh___2 (20:17): what realisation  
ks2ungmin (20:17): that he’s an idiot  
js___1 (20:18): i am now officially over kim choyeon  
js___1 (20:18): shut up seungmin!  
w00gene (20:18): cool  
w00gene (20:18): so who’s ur new crush?  
mh___2 (20:19): lol  
js___1 (20:19): NO ONE!!!!!  
js___1 (20:19): do i always need to have a crush?!?!  
ks2ungmin (20:20): no  
ks2ungmin (20:20): but when has that ever stopped u  
w00gene (20:20): ^^^  
js___1 (20:21): RIGHT NOW!!  
js___1 (20:21): but i saw choyeon’s bf  
js___1 (20:21): he picked her up after our exam  
js___1 (20:21): i didn’t rly feel anything  
js___1 (20:21): guess im totally over her  
ks2ungmin (20:22): must be nice  
js___1 (20:22): ?!?!?!  
ks2ungmin (20:22): to be as simple as u  
mh___2 (20:22): hahaha  
w00gene (20:23): lol  
w00gene (20:23): do u ever wonder why  
js___1 (20:23): why what  
w00gene (20:23): why u get over ur crushes so easily  
js___1 (20:24): oh  
mh___2 (20:25): guys stop  
mh___2 (20:25): his head might explode  
ks2ungmin (20:25): from 2 much thinking  
ks2ungmin (20:25): tru

“So.” Woojin glances up from his phone, and looks at Minho. “How do you feel?”

The two of them are together when Jisung’s newest announcement hits their phone notifications. Originally, they’d been heading to Minho’s accommodations so they can cram together for their last even final exam the next day, but then, “I’m going to explode if I crack open another textbook,” Minho had insisted. “Let’s just drink the night away.” And Woojin, just as stressed, had been more pliable than usual, so here they are instead, at a drinking stall a block away from the goshiwon, each of them already one soju bottle in.

“Not buzzed enough,” Minho answers, putting his phone away before pouring them both another soju shot each. “To… getting over crushes,” he announces, lifting his shot glass up, and not really waiting for Woojin to do the same before he tips the contents past his lips and down his throat.

Woojin narrows his eyes at Minho, but then he simply lets out a sigh and a head shake before following suit and downing the contents of his own shot glass. “Are you planning on telling him how you feel before we graduate?”

The question makes Minho purse his lips. Despite the fact that Woojin knows about his feelings, the two of them have never really discussed them before. He knows that Woojin knows because his friend isn’t exactly discreet when throwing him concerned glasses every time Jisung talks about someone new that he likes, or every time Minho caves in and shows the younger affection that he normally wouldn’t show anyone else. He’s never really confronted Minho like this before, and Minho has always been thankful that Woojin is a respectful friend who knows when not to pry into his personal business.

Or _ was _ a respectful friend who _ knew _ not to pry, anyway. 

“No,” he answers honestly, hissing as he feels the sting of the alcohol hit his throat. “There’s no point anyway.”

“The point is to tell him? How you feel?” Woojin clicks his tongue, sounding as exasperated as he looks.

“He doesn’t feel the same anyway—”

“Minho,” Woojin tries to interrupt him with a stern voice, but Minho ignores him.

“—because if he did, then something would have already come to fruition over the last five years, right?”

Woojin is gawking at him with disbelief, but Minho continues to ignore his reactions, and instead pours them both more alcohol.

“Graduation is all about moving on, isn’t it?” Minho asks, raising his glass once again, but this time he waits for Woojin to do the same before drinking. “We’ll both find work, and find ourselves busy with being adults soon enough, so there’s no point lingering on unrealised feelings for cute boys who will probably find someone else to occupy their time soon enough.”

Woojin groans and shakes his head. 

“You’re an idiot,” his friend tells him, but then Woojin proceeds to lift his own glass, clinking it against Minho’s before they both simultaneously drink their shots.

— ‹‹ —

“Hey you,” Minho greeted Jisung, grinning mischievously as he holds up a cup of iced Americano against the younger male’s cheek after the latter turned to face him.

“A-ah!” Jisung shrieked in surprise at the cold, and proceeded to pout when Minho simply laughed at him.

“At least I got you a drink?” Minho offered, continuing to laugh even as he held out the drink for Jisung to take.

“It’s the least you can do, hyung!” Jisung huffed, but then he grabbed the cup anyway, and immediately took a sip from it. He looked pretty content after that, and Minho smiled because by then he knew exactly how Jisung liked his coffee.

“What were you doing before I got here?” Minho asked as he made himself comfortable on the bench next to Jisung, who had immediately transferred his bag to his other side so he could make space for the older.

The two of them had started spending even more time together, just the two of them, than usual because that semester, Seungmin and Woojin had enlisted in an English language elective together, and apart from the classes that were held twice a week, the two of them had been roped into joining a study slash conversational exercise group that met at least once a week. And so Minho and Jisung found themselves with only each other for company – not that either of them minded or complained. 

“The usual,” Jisung answered with a grin as he held up and waved his phone at Minho. 

“Looking at Seokwoo-sunbaenim’s Instagram again?”

Jisung’s grin grew cheekier, and then he turned his phone screen towards Minho so he could show which post he was looking at. True enough, it _ was _ another Instagram post made by Jisung’s current object of adoration, and Minho had to admit that this one, a senior to both of them that Jisung had met the previous semester after they were in the same Communications class, was a looker. 

The post that Minho was being shown pictured Seokwoo in full body glory as he posed in front of Konkuk’s Engineering building.

“You realise he’s too tall for you, right? He’s almost twice your height,” Minho teased playfully. He was only half-joking – Seokwoo was good looking, but he was pretty sure that Jisung barely reached his chest, probably.

“No way!” Jisung laughed. “It’d be the perfect snuggling height difference,” he declared, thumb scrolling through the guy’s feed once more.

“It’s very far from ideal kissing height difference though,” Minho argued, mostly for the sake of arguing. “He’d have to bend too far down to reach you. I don’t imagine that would be good for his knees.”

“I can always use a stepping stool,” Jisung declared with a laugh, but then he proceeded to put his phone away finally. Minho hated that he felt a little too good about that, like he’d somehow succeeded in wrestling Jisung’s attention away from his crush. “Do _ you _and Jungwoo-ssi have the perfect kissing height difference?”

Minho, who had just taken a long sip from his drink, almost choked on the liquid traveling down his throat.

“Fuck—!” He coughed, while Jisung cackled and rubbed his back for comfort.

“I was just asking a question, hyung!” Jisung insisted, while his eyes sparkled with mischief. He kept moving his hand along Minho’s back, and even after Minho’s sputtering had completely calmed down, his hand didn't move away and simply settled against the small of Minho’s back.

Minho knew that shouldn't have felt as nice and comfortable as it did, and so he straightened his back, and his body naturally arched away from Jisung's touch in the process.

“The answer is yes, by the way,” He said, because he suddenly felt the need to provide an answer to Jisung's earlier inquiry even though it had obviously been just the younger’s attempt to tease him. “But it doesn't matter anymore, Jungwoo and I aren't meeting anymore.”

“Oh!” Jisung’s eyes widened. Minho wasn’t sure if he simply imagined the brief light that illuminated Jisung’s eyes, because the younger's expression had fallen just as quickly as he'd thought he saw it. “I’m sorry, hyung. I didn't realize that.”

Minho simply shrugged. He and Jungwoo were never anything official, so they didn't have a formal breakup either. They’d simply stopped meeting up and exchanging messages, and just the other day, Minho heard that Jungwoo had gone out on a date with someone from the Science department and he was happy for him, truly.

“You know I’m here for you right, hyung?” Jisung kept going on. “If you want to, or need to talk about anything that's going on, or that you're feeling, I’m ready to listen!”

Minho chuckled, because the younger sounded so uncharacteristically earnest, without the faintest hint of teasing or put upon bluster.

“I know,” he assured the smaller male. “And I appreciate it, Jisungie.”

“Good.” Jisung nodded, and grinned, and lightly dug his elbow into Minho’s side. “I’m glad we're clear on that.” There were a few moments of silence immediately after, as if Jisung had waited to see if Minho was going to take up the offer, but when it became clear that Minho had nothing more to say on the matter, Jisung cleared his throat and proceeded to ask, “Can I share something with you then, hyung?”

“Of course.”

“I’m glad it's so easy to talk with you,” Jisung said. “I always feel as if I can tell you anything and you would understand.”

Minho felt something warm and fluttery bloom in his chest because of Jisung's words, but he couldn't seem to formulate a coherent response. He simply smiled at the younger male, and hoped that the simple action conveyed the fact that he felt the same.

“You remember me telling you that my family moved around a lot when I was younger, right?” Jisung asked, and Minho nodded. “That really made it hard to maintain friendships, and after a while I stopped trying too hard.” He then ducked his head as if he felt shy, and this time it was Minho's turn to give him a comforting pat on the back. He hadn't wanted to assume anything, but it appeared that the simple gesture urged him to continue, “University is the first time I feel like I’ve finally been able to take root somewhere, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that before you, and Seungminnie and Woojin-hyung, I didn't really have friends that I’ve trusted and enjoyed as much, or felt this comfortable with. Especially you, Minho-hyung.”

He then flashed a big, bright, albeit somewhat sheepish smile at Minho, who in turn had felt something stir in his stomach. He recalled the way Jisung had been so eager, and persistent about wanting to become friends the first time they had met, and suddenly Minho fully understood why.

He really wanted to give the younger one a tight, loving hug in that moment – maybe something even more than that. But he thankfully managed to contain himself while shaking off the fact that Jisung had actually singled him out in that speech.

“Silly,” he simply said as he reached over and ruffled Jisung’s hair just like he usually did. “Everyone else missed out on your friendship, but I guess we're just pretty lucky like that.”

— ›› —

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.12.16

js___1 (14:34): hyung!!!!  
js___1 (14:34): seungmin and i got exempted from the zoonosis final!!  
js___1 (14:34): dr. kim only announced the exemption list on the day of the exam wtf  
mh___2 (14:36): he did that to us too  
mh___2 (14:36): he said he wanted to make sure we all still studied  
mh___2 (14:36): congrats though  
js___1 (14:37): 🙄🙄🙄🙄  
js___1 (14:37): but thank you hyung!!  
js___1 (14:37): this was my last final so now the sem is officially over for me!!  
js___1 (14:37): ended three hours earlier than expected because, as always, i’m brilliant 👍  
js___1 (14:38): you finished this morning right hyung?  
js___1 (14:38): are you still in seoul??? And woojin-hyung??  
js___1 (14:38): let’s grab some drinks before you go back to gimpo!!  
js___1 (14:38): seungmin went straight home that loser  
mh___2 (14:45): oh  
mh___2 (14:45): i’m in gimpo now  
mh___2 (14:45): i think woojin’s on the train home now too  
js___1 (14:46): already?????  
js___1 (14:46): if only dr. kim made the announcement earlier  
js___1 (14:46): 🙄🙄🙄🙄  
js___1 (14:46): when will you be back in seoul????  
mh___2 (15:07): graduation day i guess lol  
js___1 (15:07): hyung!!!!  
js___1 (15:07): seriously??  
mh___2 (15:08): dunno yet, we’ll see  
js___1 (15:08): let me know ok????

**⭐ VET MED ALL-STARS ⭐** ** _  
_** _ w00gene, mh___2, js___1, ks2ungmin _  
20xx.12.25

js___1 (09:35): merry christmas friends!! 🎄  
js___1 (09:35): are you doing anything today!  
mh___2 (09:36): studying lol  
w00gene (09:36): same  
js___1 (09:36): ure gonna end up looking like textbooks the next time we meet at the rate ure going ㅋ  
js___1 (09:37): let’s go out  
js___1 (09:37): like when the four of us went out last year!  
w00gene (09:38): do u forget im in daejeon rn?  
mh___2 (09:38): lol  
js___1 (09:38): it’s only an hour away by train come on hyung!  
w00gene (09:38): hah sorry jisung i really can’t rn  
js___1 (09:39): fine  
js___1 (09:35): minho-hyung? seungmin??  
js___1 (09:43): oh nvm  
js___1 (09:43): seungmin was that kkami on your instagram story just now?  
js___1 (09:43): ure with hyunjin rn aren’t u???  
js___1 (09:43): he’s posting on instagram but not replying here 😤  
js___1 (09:44): minho-hyung???  
js___1 (09:49): ????  
mh___2 (09:56): i can’t either jisungie  
mh___2 (09:56): too much work to do  
js___1 (09:57): what 😞  
js___1 (09:57): but ok!! Heh i know u and woojin-hyung are working hard for the boards 😁😁  
js___1 (09:57): i think my grandma would need me in the restaurant today anyway  
js___1 (09:57): merry christmas again friends!!

** _mh___2, js___1_ **  
20xx.01.06

js___1 (22:34): ㅋㅋㅋ  
js___1 (22:34): i went out with seungmin and hyunjin earlier  
js___1 (22:34): i was actually just going to return the thermometer i borrowed from him  
js___1 (22:36): he was with hyunjin when we met up near school  
js___1 (22:36): they were going to seoul forest to take pictures bc seungmin got a new camera  
js___1 (22:36): then they invited me to come along ㅋ  
js___1 (22:37): honestly though i think they only invited me so someone would hold their stuff while they took pictures 🙄🙄🙄🙄  
js___1 (22:37): but it was fun anyway ㅋㅋ hyunjin is nice  
js___1 (22:37): seungmin also seems nicer when he’s around hyunjin ㅋㅋㅋ  
js___1 (22:37): they picked such an expensive place for lunch though  
js___1 (22:45): ah hyung you must be asleep already 😅  
js___1 (22:45): don’t study too much, you’ll pass the boards!!  
js___1 (22:45): bc i know ure brilliant like me!!  
mh___2 (22:55): i know thanks lol  
js___1 (22:56): hyung!! I thought u were asleep already!  
mh___2 (22:56): i was just getting ready to go to bed haha  
mh___2 (22:56): u sound like u had a long day  
mh___2 (22:57): outdoors  
mh___2 (22:57): in the dead of winter  
mh___2 (22:58): don’t get sick  
mh___2 (22:58): and don’t intrude on them too often lol   
js___1 (22:59): they invited me!! 😤  
js___1 (22:59): don’t worry about me hyung i won’t get sick! 😄😄😄  
js___1 (22:59): u stay healthy too okay??

** _mh___2, js___1_ **  
20xx.01.16

js___1 (21:34): hyung!!!  
js___1 (21:34): i went out with seungmin and hyunjin again earlier  
js___1 (21:34): we were shopping in jamshil  
js___1 (21:36): i was walking ahead of them then when i turned around they were holding hands!! ㅋㅋㅋ  
js___1 (21:36): i don’t think they know i saw them  
js___1 (21:36): but huh seungmin isn’t saying anything abt them being official  
js___1 (21:37): so hm 🤔  
js___1 (21:37): what do you think hyung??  
js___1 (21:37): can we safely conclude they’re official now..  
js___1 (21:37): do u think if they are already official seungmin would hide it from us??  
mh___2 (22:45): haah who knows  
mh___2 (22:45): why don’t u ask him lol  
js___1 (22:45): right!  
js___1 (22:46): i asked him and he replied no wtf  
js___1 (23:01): surely he won’t lie about this will he  
js___1 (23:01): anyway good night hyung! I hope you enjoyed the update XD

** _mh___2, js___1_ **  
20xx.01.18

js___1 (17:56): hyung!!  
mh___2 (18:08): hey  
mh___2 (18:08): sorry didn’t see your message right away  
js___1 (18:08): have you seen dr. ok’s newest instagram post ㅋㅋㅋ  
js___1 (18:08): it was a photo of an x-ray of a dog’s abdomen  
js___1 (18:08): a dog who swallowed a crucifix pendant  
js___1 (18:08): and he captioned it ‘the lord is within this dog’  
js___1 (18:08): ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ  
mh___2 (18:11): oh saw it just now haha  
mh___2 (18:11): ㅋㅋㅋ  
js___1 (18:12): btw hyung!  
js___1 (18:12): are you going to seoul anytime soon?  
js___1 (18:12): i’m going this week!  
js___1 (18:12): gonna accompany my grandma for a check-up at her doctor  
js___1 (18:12): it’s gonna take the entire day though and she says i can leave her when we get there  
js___1 (18:13): then i’ll just pick her up when she’s done  
js___1 (18:13): are you???  
js___1 (18:13): let’s meet up if you are!  
js___1 (18:22): hyung??  
mh___2 (18:27): oh no not this week  
mh___2 (18:27): i have an interview in jeonju  
js___1 (18:27): what??????  
js___1 (18:28): that’s for the cattle farm post right???  
js___1 (18:28): good luck tho!!!  
js___1 (18:08): let me know how it goes!!

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.01.25

js___1 (21:23): huuu have you seen how active seungmin is on instagram lately  
js___1 (21:23): it’s like he’s going somewhere everyday with hyunjin  
js___1 (21:23): i went with them to everland just last week  
js___1 (21:23): then the other day i think they went to paju  
js___1 (21:23): when usually he’d be studying for the next semester already ㅋ  
mh___2 (21:32): haven’t checked instagram lately but good for him  
js___1 (21:32): he hardly posts before but now that he’s with hyunjin he’s posting so often it’s annoying  
js___1 (21:32): he’s even posted hyunjin’s face once or twice already  
mh___2 (21:38): nice  
js___1 (21:38): do u think they’re dating already??  
js___1 (21:32): i think they are!!  
js___1 (21:32): i followed hyunjin on instagram too and they post almost the same things  
mh___2 (21:45): hard to tell  
js___1 (21:45): wanna bet on it?? 10,000 KRW?? 20,000 KRW??  
js___1 (22:02): ah ㅋㅋ anyway enjoy studying hyung!!  
js___1 (22:02): tell me if you wanna meet up ok!!! 

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.02.17

js___1 (01:02): hyung…  
js___1 (01:02): BREAKING NEWS  
js___1 (01:02): seungmin and hyunjin are  
js___1 (01:02): officially tgt now  
js___1 (01:02): facebook official and all  
js___1 (01:02): or well at least hyunjin updated his status lol

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.02.17

js___1 (11:21): ok ig they rly are  
js___1 (11:21): seungmin flat out told me to stop  
js___1 (11:22): hanging w them  
js___1 (11:22): when they’re on dates  
mh___2 (11:45): he’s right  
mh___2 (11:45): stop going on dates w them  
js___1 (11:45): HE DIDN’T SAY THEY WERE DATES BEFORE

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.02.18

js___1 (19:26): hyung…  
js___1 (19:26): r u really not visiting seoul any time soon?  
js___1 (19:26): its so boring w/o u  
js___1 (19:27): and woojin hyung  
mh___2 (19:45): haha  
mh___2 (19:45): im still revising  
mh___2 (19:45): sry  
mh___2 (19:46): my job interviews in seoul arent until late february  
js___1 (19:46): oh ok ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

** _mh___2, js___1_ ** **  
**20xx.02.19

js___1 (08:13): hyung…  
js___1 (08:13): wat if i visit u?  
js___1 (08:13): i wanna see dori again  
js___1 (08:13): i can meet ur other cats!! ㅠ  
js___1 (08:13): seungmin’s no fun w a bf  
js___1 (08:13): ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅍ

Minho had headed back home to his parents’ house in Gimpo as soon as school let out for winter break. He had made the excuse that he needed to focus on revising for the upcoming boards, so even though Jisung had huffed and pouted because he thought the four of them can do something together over the break, especially since it was the last winter break for Woojin _ and _ Minho.

“Sorry,” Minho had told him. “I have to go through everything we’ve learned in the last six years, and—” He had needed to take a deep breath so he can control himself, and make sure that he didn’t easily cave in to Jisung’s request like he was prone to doing. “Yeah. That’s a lot of reading,” he mumbled, and then he glanced at Woojin, hoping that his friend could support him on this.

“Uh, yeah, and we have to send out job applications and all that,” Woojin chimed in. “But don’t worry Jisungie, I’ll go back to Seoul every so often. I’m looking at job options here, too.”

Minho had shot him a glare at that, because the last thing he needed was Jisung thinking that he was going to be doing the same. Granted, he _ was _ looking at job opportunities in Seoul as well, but his main reason for wanting to get back home as soon as he could, was mainly so that he could get a head start on his plan to completely move on from the younger male.

Jisung _ did _ light up a little at what Woojin said, but then he’d turned and looked at Minho expectantly, and all Minho did was look down and pretend to be busy with a loose thread on the rip of his jeans.

And this is how Minho has ended up spending the last two months practically holed up in his room, buried deep in his textbooks. To be fair, even though he had kept telling Jisung that he was busy, he managed to still find time to occasionally go out and meet with some of his high school friends who still lived in the area. 

Once, Woojin had extended an offer for Minho to visit him in Daejeon, and, bored out of his wits, Minho had actually considered the invitation. He had been about to say yes, but before they could settle details of his visitation, he had realised that Jisung would likely find out about the trip. He didn’t want to think about Jisung feeling angry at being excluded, or even worse, _ hurt _ that Minho could make time to visit Woojin at Daejeon, which was considerably further away than Jisung, who he could meet in Seoul _ or _ Incheon.

Needless to say, the plan to escape to home in Gimpo so he could more easily move on from Jisung is turning out to be a bust. Jisung’s messages about how bored he is, and his consistent updates on the state of Seungmin’s love life isn’t really helping either, so maybe that’s why when Jisung boldly asks him about visiting, Minho finds that he doesn’t have it in him anymore to deny the younger male.

He gives Jisung his family’s home address, and they make plans for him to stay over for an entire weekend. 

Ahead of Jisung’s arrival on their agreed upon Friday afternoon, Minho feels nervous – they haven’t seen each other for two months, and he’s feeling mildly guilty because he knows that this is his fault. But then Jisung’s entire face lights up when he sees Minho behind the gate, and the first thing he does is wrap his arms around the older male.

“Hyung, I missed you!” He exclaims, laughing. Minho is taken aback, but he finds himself reciprocating the action with his own arms wrapping around the smaller male’s frame. He knows that he's missed Jisung, but it only hits him in that moment just how much.

He unconsciously tightens good hold around Jisung, not really wanting to let go just yet, and then he realizes that Jisung has also done the same.

“Ji—sung—” Minho gasps, “—can’t breathe!”

“Oh, sorry!” Jisung keeps laughing, but he hurriedly untangles himself from Minho. “It’s just that I haven't seen you in ages!”

“It’s barely been two months, Jisung,” Minho points out, ushering the younger inside and closing the gate behind them.

“Two months too long!” Jisung declares; he's looking around, clearly observing the surroundings.

Minho’s family home, even though it also doubles as their family’s place of business, is pretty modest. They offered three rooms for rent in the main house, with a communal kitchen and two bathrooms, while Minho and his parents lived in the smaller, adjacent bungalow. 

“Your backyard is really pretty, hyung,” Jisung comments, and for some reason, this makes Minho laugh. “Where do I put my things?”

“Oh, come on,” Minho tells him, gesturing for him to follow as he leads the way. He had originally considered putting him up in one of the guest rooms, because he figured that he can only benefit from continuing to put a little distance between the two of them even with Jisung visiting.

But, as luck would have it, they were fully booked for the weekend and he had no choice but to share his room with his friend.

He wonders what it says about how Jisung views their friendship, when the first thing he does after depositing his bag on the floor of Minho's room, is throw himself, face first, onto Minho’s bed.

“Is this where I sleep?” Jisung asks, grinning as he rolls over onto his back.

“No, idiot, you get the floor,” Minho answers, as he parks himself on the edge of the bed.

“But there's enough room for both of us on the bed!”

Minho owns a twin-sized bed, but Jisung is tiny, and Minho isn't a particularly large man either, so Jisung isn't entirely wrong. It isn't even as if it would be the first time in their many years of friendship that they would share a bed, but right now, it just felt very counterproductive to Minho’s attempts at moving on.

“Okay,” he sighs and gives in anyway. “But you're taking the outer side, and you don't get to complain if you fall off in the middle of the night.”

The rest of Jisung’s visit is spent with him seamlessly incorporating himself into Minho’s home life. 

He reunites with Dori, the kitten that he had picked out with Minho right before winter break commenced. More than that, he plays well with Soonie, and even Doongie actually shows a bit of interest in Jisung which surprises Minho.

Minho’s mother loves him, and even his father, albeit a bit more subdued, engages in a long-winded conversation about staff management with Jisung after the latter shares a few business idealisms employed by his grandmother in Incheon.

Jisung is friendly even with the guests, and it's unsurprising when Minho catches him having a brief English conversation with some of them, a couple from Indonesia, if he recalls correctly.

It’s disconcerting, how well the younger male fits even in this aspect of his life, and Minho isn't sure how he feels about it. 

— ‹‹ —

“You’re here,” Woojin observed out loud, when he had come in for his shift at the teaching hospital one afternoon. _ “Again.” _

Minho and Woojin were finally in their fifth year of their veterinary education, which meant they had started their internship at the teaching hospital at the start of the semester.

Somehow, Jisung, who was only in his fourth year, was frequently found hanging out at the reception area of the vet clinic, anyway.

“Where else would I be?” Jisung asked, nose turned up in a way that made Minho laugh. He had a lot of answers to that because there are so many other places that Jisung could or _ should _ be, but his presence at the clinic was easily Minho's pleasure so he kept his mouth shut and chose to just watch Jisung and Woojin’s exchange. “Minho-hyung could use the company!” Jisung chirped, and while that was true, he was also conveniently forgetting to mention the fact that Minho shared most of his shift with a very kind and soft-spoken senior who vaguely resembled Seungmin. “Plus Dr. Ok even told me it was nice seeing me around, and how it was great to have a student like me so eager to learn.”

Minho held back a snort, because the Vet hadn't exactly put it like that. Still, he reached out and ruffled Jisung’s hair as if he was proud.

“What about class? That's where you should be doing learning.”

“My last one was over an hour ago,” Jisung answered. “And then Minho-hyung messaged me and told me that someone was bringing in their pet gecko today so I rushed over.”

Minho had to bite back a grin as he recalled how Jisung had been so enthusiastic when the boy with the reptilian pet had turned up earlier that afternoon. Jisung had such a natural affinity for all types of animals, and Minho found it quite endearing.

“Where’s Seungmin, then?” Woojin asked as he deposited his bag under the desk.

“With Chaeryoung,” Jisung said with a shrug, as he referred to the girl that Seungmin had been somewhat dating for a couple of months now. “But let me tell you, I really don’t think they’re going to last much longer.”

Woojin snorted and gave him an incredulous look. “What makes you say that?”

“There’s just no spark!”

At this, Minho was curious enough to interject. “What do you know about sparks? How can you tell that there’s none?”

Jisung shrugged again. “I’m not blind,” Jisung simply said, and when Woojin turned to give Minho a knowing look at this, he deliberately turned away.

“And the reason why the two of you are just playing _ gonggi _ now?” Woojin asked, and Minho was glad that he’d let them move on from the topic of sparks and Jisung’s apparent expertise on them.

“Slow day,” Minho replied with a shrug. “Want to play, too?”

“Where's your shift partner?” 

“Dr. Ok has Wonpil-sunbaenim filing some paperwork in the backroom,” Minho said while he gathered the _ gonggi _pebbles he and Jisung had been playing with when Woojin arrived.

“Shouldn’t you be helping him?” Woojin asked, and Minho easily caught the questioning glance he threw Jisung’s way.

“He said he could take care of it, and he knew my shift was about to end anyway,” Minho said, and then he gave the wall clock a pointed glance exactly as the minute finger reached 12. “And now, I’m going—I’m starving.” 

He grabbed his bag and quickly signed his name on the shift chart, next to his time out, while Jisung scrambled to get up to his feet. 

“See you later, Woojin-hyung!” He said, giving Woojin a casual salute.

“What, you’re going as well?” Woojin clicked his tongue. “I could use the company too, you know!” 

“Sorry, hyung!” Jisung called out. “I’m hungry, too!”

And then he and Minho are heading towards the exit doors, both of them laughing. They were halfway through the semester already, and that had not been the first of that kind of exchange. Jisung frequently visited the clinic during times when Minho was on shift, to the point where the two of them had each other’s schedules memorised by heart.

Even the fact that he hadn’t eaten yet was something Minho had done on purpose. If he wanted to, he could have gotten delivery along with the other interns and doctors earlier during his shift. But he knew Jisung was coming, and he wanted an excuse to have a late lunch with the younger.

“You know you don’t always have to keep me company during my shifts, right?” Minho found himself saying. “It’s not as if I’d die of loneliness if left to my own devices. And Wonpil-sunbaenim is good company.”

He wondered how much of an asshole he was being, testing for Jisung's reaction the way he was doing. To be fair, Wonpil truly was good company – he was soft-spoken but Minho managed to get him to talk about common interests, such as music. Wonpil had even shared the fact that he played piano, and then he and Minho had exchanged a couple of song recommendations.

It felt a bit cheap using him, but Minho really wanted to know why Jisung was always so ready to bother him, when he had a lot of other things he could be doing.

“Better company than me?” Jisung said it like he was being playful and teasing, but there had been a strange hitch in his voice – or so Minho thought. “It doesn't matter!” He went on without letting Minho answer, “I like visiting the animals at the clinic, anyway!”

Minho tried to hide the tinge of disappointment he felt at the answer, even though he hadn't been sure what he had been expecting to hear.

“Guess you must really love learning as much as Dr. Ok assumes you do, huh?” He said, forcing himself to appear more cheerful by teasing the younger and nudging Jisung’s hips with his own.

“I’m a brilliant young man, just as he says!” Jisung laughed. “Anyway, hyung,” he continued, as he slung an arm around Minho's shoulders, “you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not!”

Minho lifted his eyebrows, unsure what the younger meant by his words. “How do you mean?”

“Well, Woojin-hyung has been dating Gyuri-noona for a few months now, and Seungmin has Chaeryoung, so—” He shrugged, and flashed a grin. “We’ve all we got!”

Minho chortled and shook his head. Once again, he didn’t know what he had been expecting to hear, but it wasn’t that either; he wondered if Jisung ever realised the kind of weight his words bore when it came to Minho.

— ›› —

“Congratulations on graduating!” Seungmin and Jisung, for once, are actually synchronized when they greet Woojin and Minho after their commencement ceremony. Both of them have large bouquets in their arms; Seungmin steps forward to hand Woojin an arrangement of pink and yellow carnations, while Jisung, with big, bright grin, moves to hand Minho white and pink daisies. 

“You made it, hyungs!” Jisung chirps happily, and Minho can only chuckle.

They _ have _ made it, but for some reason, as happy as he feels, he still doesn’t feel fully content.

“Congratulations,” Hyunjin, who is there as Seungmin’s plus one, echoes. Minho doesn’t know why Seungmin feels the need to bring his boyfriend to his friends’ graduation day, but he doesn’t really care, or truly mind. He guesses that Jisung, who had earlier messaged him saying that Seungmin clearly just wants to show off his pretty boyfriend, is probably right.

“Thank you,” Minho accepts his greeting graciously; he’s met Hyunjin only a few times before, but considering the blow-by-blow updates that Minho had received about him over winter break, he feels like he knows him better than he really does.

“So—” Seungmin interjects; there’s a faint trace of smugness in his expression, or so Minho thinks. It’s probably just Jisung’s influence on his thoughts, because Minho is truly happy that his friend has found someone that he seems to truly like. At least someone in their little friend group is happy and seemingly content in their romantic endeavours.

“So?” Woojin urges him to continue fast, probably because he has to go because his parents are waiting for him. Minho understands, because it’s the same with him.

“We’re all still on for dinner tonight, right?” Seungmin confirms, casually ignoring the impatience that the two older males are hinting at. “I got us a dinner reservation for five at Viking’s Wharf tonight at 7:30—that’s good for everyone, right? Jisung and I are paying. Our congratulatory gift for both of you!” 

Minho easily notices Jisung flinch, and he almost laughs. He knows that’s going to be a blow to his pocket, so it probably says a lot that Jisung even agreed to split the cost in the first place, and he appreciates it. 

Something loudly buzzes, which turns out to be Woojin’s phone. “I need to go,” he says, after glancing at the screen. “7:30, Viking’s Wharf,” he repeats, grinning. “See you all, later!”

He’s quickly off, and Seungmin and Hyunjin excuse themselves as well shortly after, after repeating their congratulatory greetings for Minho. 

And then, like usual, Minho is left alone with Jisung, who is grinning at him toothily, looking proud and happy as if he’s the one who just got a degree.

“You really did it, hyung!” Jisung says, reaching up to ruffle _ his _ hair like _ he _ usually does to him. 

“I know,” Minho answers, reaching up so he can fix and pat his head down. “And I’m actually getting free seafood buffet out of it, huh?”

Jisung huffs and shakes his head, and they both start walking towards the university’s parking lot where Minho’s parents are waiting for them. Jisung, somehow, has scored himself an invite to Minho’s family’s celebratory lunch.

“Seungmin chose the restaurant! He chose somewhere so expensive—” Jisung whines. “If I knew he was choosing a place with lots of seafood, then we could have just gone to my grandma’s restaurant!”

Minho actually laughs at that, mostly because he kind of predicted that Jisung was probably thinking like that. “If it’s too expensive, I can pay for myself,” he offers.

“No way!” Jisung immediately answers, shaking his head vehemently. “I got you, hyung. Like Seungmin said, it’s our congratulatory treat.” He looks so determined, that Minho doesn’t really make any kind of further protest.

They have lunch at a nearby family restaurant that Minho chooses because he knows his parents would love the food there, and they mostly end up talking about Minho’s future plans and prospects.

Minho notices that Jisung is mostly quiet, and he would assume that it’s because he doesn’t want to intrude on his conversation with his parents, but Jisung had been much more friendly and at home when he had visited Minho in Gimpo just earlier that month. So after they send his mother and father off, bidding them a safe drive back home, he considers asking Jisung exactly what it is that’s been running through his thoughts, distracting him from not just a friendly conversation with his parents, but also from heartily enjoying a free meal.

“Are you really seriously thinking of taking that job in Jeonju?” Jisung suddenly blurts out; it turns out that Minho didn’t really need to ask anything.

They’re walking together down the sidewalk, without any actual destination in mind. They’re buying themselves time, because they still have several hours left before they have to meet their friends.

“Yes?” Minho answers, unable to hide the uncertainty in his tone even though he _ does _ try. 

So far he has gotten a handful of job offers, but like he’d let his parents know over their meal, he’s really only seriously considering two of them.

One of his options is a job in Seoul, as a junior veterinarian at the private practice of Dr. Ok, who has consistently been one of Minho’s favorite professors throughout his six years of veterinary school. The job is exactly the kind of beginner's stepping stone that would help launch a career in pet health care, which appeals to Minho. Dr. Ok’s private clinic, however, is newly established and barely a year old, so the starting salary isn’t very generous. Minho isn’t really decided about accepting the offer just yet.

Not to mention, if he works there, he’ll be staying at Seoul, which means he’ll continue being in close proximity to Jisung, and he doesn’t really know if this belongs under the pro or con column.

His second big option is a job in Jeonju at a meat farm. He was going to mainly be an assistant to the head cattle doctor, which isn’t exactly the kind of career trajectory Minho had imagined for himself when he’d entered veterinary school. But the starting pay is almost twice of what Dr. Ok is offering, which makes it sorely tempting.

The given distance between him in Jeonju, and Jisung in Seoul, was originally pencilled in under the pro column; _ out of sight, out of mind, _ was the philosophy he had been hoping to employ, but these days, he’s been wavering, and just like with the Seoul opportunity, he isn’t sure if Jisung’s proximity is a positive or negative attribute of the Jeonju option.

“You should take the job with Dr. Ok,” Jisung tells him somewhat forcefully, which surprises Minho.

_ “Should?” _ He repeats questioningly.

“You should!” Jisung says, nodding firmly. 

“And why _ should _ I?”

Jisung actually takes a few beats before he comes up with an answer. “Well, you love Dr. Ok, don’t you? Don’t you want to work under him?”

To be fair, he isn’t wrong – his former professor is certainly the biggest draw of that opportunity, but he shrugs, partly to tease Jisung by not giving him the satisfaction of being correct. “Working for Dr. Ok is comfortable and familiar, but Jeonju offers a growth in experience _ and _ a better salary,” he points out.

“But!” Jisung shakes his head, frown lines deeply etched on his brow as if he’s trying his best to come up with more reasons for Minho to take the job in Seoul, instead of Jeonju. Minho doesn’t get it, and he certainly doesn’t want to get his hopes up by making assumptions about Jisung’s thought process. “Jeonju is too far!”

“Jeonju air is also better than Seoul air,” Minho points out, only half-joking. “Tell me one thing that’s better in Seoul than in Jeonju.”

“But—” Jisung groans. “What about Dori, then?”

“What do you mean what about Dori?” Minho laughs, even though he’s confused. “Seoul doesn’t have Dori.”

“That’s not what I mean! You said you want to closely raise Dori, the way you weren’t able to with Soonie and Doongie!” Jisung points, lifting his chin in a proud manner, as if he’s just stumped Minho.

Which he really hasn’t.

“If I go to Jeonju, I’m bringing Dori with me,” he says; to be fair, the plan is to take Dori with him to Seoul as well, if that’s the option he chooses to go with. “Jeonju is offering a big enough salary that I can definitely afford a place that allows pets.”

“But— b-but!” Jisung sputters, gaping at him in disbelief.

“But—?” Minho pauses because they’d just reached a corner, and he has no idea which turn to make. Going left would bring set them on course for the nearest train station, while going ahead would simply bring them back closer to Konkuk.

“But,” Jisung whispers. “Dori’s our cat.”

Minho freezes, unsure if he heard right. “Excuse me?”

“Dori’s our cat,” Jisung repeats, even softer this time. “We picked her together.”

Minho can feel it, the walls he’d slowly started to build between him and Jisung, they’re completely crumbling – _ breaking down, _ even, and there isn’t anything he can do about it.

“Dori… is mine,” he says, very lamely.

Jisung sighs. “Yeah, I know,” he sounds somewhat detached, and Minho wants to metaphorically reach out and pull him back in. “Sorry about that. I guess I couldn’t think of any other reason why you should choose the job with Dr. Ok.”

“Why?” Minho finds himself asking.

“Why?”

“Why do you want me to take that job so bad?”

Minho can feel hope rising in his chest, and it’s dangerous – he really shouldn’t do this to himself. He’s allowed himself occasional moments of similar wishful thinking over the years, and nothing has ever come of it. He decided to try and move on from Jisung, and he did it for good reason, yet here he is anyway, pushing his limits, testing if Jisung has anything for him to grab onto.

“Because,” Jisung whines, childish sounding, yet completely serious. “I’m selfish,” he continues, before taking a deep breath and looking up at Minho with some kind of defiance in his eyes. “Because I’m selfish, and I want you to stay in Seoul, hyung.”

“But… why?” Minho prods some more; he doesn’t really have anything to lose anymore. If he doesn’t get what he wants to hear, well, he can simply nurse his broken heart in Jeonju, just like he’d been planning on doing. 

“Because!” Jisung cries out, his tone going up a notch, earning them weird glances from passers-by. “Because—” he repeats, hissing this time. “I like you, hyung— and I’ve liked you for the last four years, and I don’t really want to lose you!”

“Wait—” The moment Jisung says the words _ I like you, _ something had swelled in Minho’s chest, because they’re the exact words he’s been wanting to hear for so long; but then Jisung continued talking, and, _ “What?” _

“What do you mean what?!” Jisung half-yells. “Don’t make me say it again, hyung!”

“Four years?”

Jisung glares. “Yes, four impossible years!”

Minho blinks. He almost wants to laugh. “Well, try five years of pining,” he says slowly.

“Huh?” Jisung’s mouth is half open in confusion, but Minho recognises the glint of hope that flashes in his eyes. Frankly, he finds it very endearing. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Minho begins slowly, “That I like you too, and that I’ve liked you for the last five years.”

_ Five years, _ he thinks. Minho has liked Jisung for as long as he’s known him. _ Like, _ all things considered, is probably an understatement at this point, but he isn’t sure if Jisung is ready to hear more – or rather, if he’s ready to admit more, even though he definitely knows it in his heart.

“H-hyung—” Jisung looks like he’s about to hyperventilate, but it isn’t that, apparently; he inhales deeply, and the next thing Minho knows, is that Jisung is halfway collapsing in his arms, tears uncontrollably falling down his cheeks. “Hyung,” he repeats in between sobs. “Why didn’t you say anything before?!”

Minho almost wants to laugh because Jisung isn’t a pretty crier, but he can feel the younger releasing so much frustration in those tears, and truthfully, he can relate. 

“Jisungie,” he murmurs softly, tightly wrapping his arms around the younger so he can support him as Jisung cries against his chest. He can feel his polo shirt getting wet from the tears, and they’re definitely getting more strange looks now; they also probably look like they’re re-enacting a scene straight out of some primetime drama, but Minho can’t find it in himself to care. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I didn’t think you felt the same—you had all those other people you liked. Just a few months ago, you were using hair wax and putting on BB cream for Choyeon, and—”

“Hyung,” Jisung mumbles against his chest, effectively interrupting him. “You weren’t any better. You went out with all these other people, so I figured it was hopeless. I— I thought there was no way you were attracted to me in that way.”

When Jisung puts it like that, Minho supposes that he’s unconsciously put Jisung through the same kind of torture, that he thought he was under. It makes him hug Jisung tighter, and he simply glares at anyone who even dares throw a judgmental glance their way. He can’t believe they’ve wasted so many years dancing around their feelings like this. 

“We’re idiots,” he mutters, remembering Woojin’s admonition towards him just a couple of months ago. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe we turned out so alike even in something as dumb as this.”

Jisung keeps sniffing and humming against his chest, clearly trying to collect himself before pulling away. Minho, truthfully, just wants to kiss all his tears away, except that’s clearly not the best course of action while they’re in public, and standing at a corner crosswalk.

Graduation isn’t just about moving on, he realises. It’s about reaching that fork in the road, where you have to choose the right path for yourself.

“Please don’t leave,” Jisung sniffs, finally pulling away and furiously rubbing at his eyes with his shirt sleeve. His eyes look red, and his cheeks look even puffier, and he really, truly isn’t a pretty crier, but Minho thinks he’s the most adorable thing he’s ever set his eyes on anyway.

“Don’t worry, Jisungie,” Minho assures him, smiling and reaching over so he can, as usual, affectionately ruffle the younger’s hair. “I’m with you.”

He still isn’t sure what the smart career path for him is; he doesn’t even know if he should turn left and head to the train station, or go on ahead and reminisce around his old university campus – but right now, at the very least, he knows that whatever choice he makes, there is no way he’s going to move ahead in his life without Jisung.


End file.
